So Beautiful
by DontWannaBeAClue
Summary: I love Bawson fics but I couldn't write one to save my life. Instead I decided to delve further into Mike's past and Mike's potential family life. OFC/OMC
1. Wether I'm Right Or Wrong

Whether I'm Right Or Wrong:

I hated waiting in the hallway outside of the locker room at the stadium because it made me feel like such a groupie. GAG. I so wasn't a groupie, but he forgot to leave his key at the designated spot and I couldn't let myself into his place without them or him being there. You'd think that it wouldn't be that hard to get a second or third key cut for just such an occasion, but he hadn't done that. I mean, isn't that a thing that people do? You buy a place, you get some spare keys cut, right? I swear that's a thing.

But no, he's getting old... and senile, apparently, so here I stand and wait. Fuck, he's so old that he'll probably be the last one out of the locker room too. Damn it! And there was nowhere to sit down and be more comfortable while I waited for his stupid ass. Double shit.

There were a few of us standing around the hallway now. We were all doing that awkward thing where you try not to look at each other while also trying to size each other up at the same time. You know the move; when glances out the side of your eye aren't enough, you hold up your phone trying to pretend that you need a better angle to read or see something on it. Lame? Yes. Embarrassing? Definitely. But, I thought that I recognized the blonde glued to her phone standing at the other end of the hallway. For some reason, I just couldn't really place where I might know her from and it was bugging me. So, here I was with my phone held higher than it needed to be so that I could try to get a better look at her.

"If you need a room, I'm sure we could find you one at the Omni," a familiar voice quietly said into my ear.

I was so lost in my thoughts that all I could manage as a reply was a weak sounding, "What?"

"The way you're boring through her with you gaze..." She answered with a chuckle.

I think she wanted to say more, but it got lost in a fit of laughter. That gave me enough time to turn around and face my accuser. I wanted to say something witty back, but what came out was a relieved sounding, "Evie" as I wrapped my arms around her neck.

Evelyn Sanders didn't hesitate before she returned my embrace with a soft, "Surprised to see you here."

I huffed out a laugh before I pushed back to look at her and reply, "I know, right? Not my favorite place to be, but..."

I fell silent as the door to the San Diego Padres locker room opened and one of the players stepped out. If I could have gotten my legs to move, I would have turned around and made a run for it. Instead, I stood frozen in my place. Thankfully my mouth remained completely detached from my brain and I managed to whisper out an impassionate, "Shitfuck."

Evelyn looked at the man who had stepped out into the hall and then back at me. I'm not sure what she saw on my face, but she quickly grabbed my arm and turned me around so that my back was facing the locker room door as she asked, "You aren't here to see him?"

"What? Fuck no!" I replied automatically, but with a lot of feeling.

I tried to turn my head to look at him, but Evelyn caught my chin in her hand to force me to keep my eyes on her, "So, you two are really over?"

I couldn't verbally reply because of how she was still holding my face, so I just nodded. That seemed to be the response she was looking for because she released my chin and saying, "Good because you deserve much better than him."

I gently gripped my chin and moved my jaw from side to side to try to get the circulation flowing through my face again.

"Thanks Evie, but next time could you please not crush my jaw?"

She smirked and then her eyes went unnaturally wide. I didn't move, but I did ask her, "Is…? Is he coming this way?"

She tried to keep a nonchalant air about her movements and facial expressions as she shrugged and replied, "Sort of."

That was all I needed to hear to get my feet moving. Before I got too far away from her, I squeezed Evelyn's shoulder and said, "He's expecting me… well not HIM, but… uhh… y'know. Could you…? Uhh… Just tell him I'm at my favorite place at the park, okay?"

She gave me a sad smile then replied, "Yeah, okay. Go. I'll tell him or if worse comes to worse I'll send Blip in to tell him if he's taking too long."

I had just enough time to give her a grateful smile before I sprinted towards the hallway that lead back up to the stands and the field. Although I knew there was a possibility while waiting for Mike that I would see… HIM… I was somehow deluded into thing that it wouldn't actually happen. FUCK! Why couldn't he have pitched today and have had to ice up just like their stupid catcher? But no, they only had to use two stupid pitchers to get the win and now I was hiding away in the stands like a mistress in the closet when the wife came home.

As soon as that comparison formed in my mind, I let out a loud grown and flopped into one of the seats behind home plate. It was bad enough that I was running away from him like a scare little… whatever… But to think that? EW! NO!

Luckily, I knew this place. THIS, right here, this seat? THIS I knew and it was my safe place. MINE! Fuck him and his stupid…

"Miss? The stadium is closed," a voice called out from the direction of the field.

I lifted my face from my hands. Shit! When did I do that? Well, at least I wasn't crying.

I took in a deep breath and yelled back, "Yeah, Sope, I know. I'm… I'm just waiting for…"

"Brie?" Michael Soper, one of the members of Petco's grounds crew inadvertently interrupted as he moved towards the backstop so that we wouldn't have to continue yelling at each other. "I didn't know that you were visiting."

"Well," I replied. "Technically I'm not… visiting that is. I'm hoping that the move will be permanent… umm… in the near future."

"Really?"

"Yep," I answered with the first genuine smile since the game had ended. "We'll have to see how the next few months go before I know for sure."

"Well, either way it'll be good to see you in the stands again. I've gotta get back to work, but we'll chat soon, right?"

"Of course! And thanks, it feels really good to be back."

He gave me a brilliant smile and then turned to sprint towards third base. He then moved to pick up each of the bases to save them from being damaged by the sprinklers that would soon be turned on. First, though, one of his coworkers had to run over the infield and outfield with a rider mower to make sure that the grass would be the perfect length for tomorrow night's game.

Fresh cut grass. That scent hit my nose and I closed my eyes to fully take it in. This is why this seat at this time of day would always be one of my favorite places. So many good memories were evoked by that scent and, more importantly, so many bad ones were erased.

I'm not sure how long I had been sitting there with my eyes closed before I heard, "Oh! Oh… umm… sorry. I didn't think anyone else would be up here."

As I opened my eyes, I turned my angry gaze towards the intruder. Once she came into view my glaring turned into a wide-eyed look of awe as I stuttered out, "Oh, no… no… If… Uhh… If you want to sit up here, it's all yours."

I tried to stand up and give her my seat, but somehow, I stumbled over my own feet and almost fell as I moved up the stairs towards her. She foolishly reached out to try to catch me to keep me from falling, so I grabbed the chain link fencing of the back stop to save myself from falling.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

I smiled answering, "No. Not at all. I told myself that I wouldn't act like a star-struck teenager when I met you. But, here I am… fucking tripping over my own feet."

That made her throw back her head in laughter which made me smile. He told me she was way cooler than the media made her out to be, but I didn't really believe it until now.

After she had been laughing for a few seconds, she sobered slightly then thrust her right hand forward saying, "Well, I guess that means that you know that I'm Ginny Baker and you are…?"

"Me?" I questioned, still in a bit of a daze. "Me…? I'm… I'm…"

I let out a soft groan as I shook Ginny's hand. "I'm Brie and I'm with him… unfortunately."

Ginny continued to shake my hand until her battery mate came into view. Mike looked slightly confused which made Ginny laugh heartedly before she released my hand. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just gripped my left wrist with my right hand behind my back and waited to hear what Mike had to say.

"Baker!" He barked out in surprise before he caught himself. "I… I mean… she isn't bothering you Baker, is she?"

I let out a not so quiet scoff that brought Ginny's attention back to me. When she saw the look on my face, she let out another chuckle before she answered, "No, we were just introducing ourselves to each other." She then turned her attention back to me and added, "Brie, right? It was nice meeting you. Hopefully we'll be able to chat longer next time."

I gave her a weak smile and replied, "Thanks. It was beyond awesome to meet you too. Sorry if we're making you face the reporters before you wanted to."

She smirked then said, "Nah, it isn't all that bad. I'm sure that Amelia has dealt with the worst of them by now."

With that she turned and sprinted up the stairs. She only paused for a brief moment as she passed her teammate. She said something to him that kept him silent for a whole five seconds. I marveled at that feat and vowed to remember to ask her what she said to accomplish that feat. He, of course, recovered quickly and then replied with something that looked like it made her laugh and shake her head.

Great! Now I've lost my chance to be friends with… I started to think until I looked up and saw Ginny Baker waving down in my direction. I quickly looked behind me to make sure that she wasn't waving at some from the grounds' crew. (What? It wasn't as crazy as it sounds, especially after I found out she really was as down to Earth as I had heard she would be.) But, no. She was waving at me.

I raised my right hand to wave back, awkwardly and lamely. Seriously, it was like I had never met a famous person or major leaguer before in my life. I was tongue tied and beyond graceless. AND Mike Lawson was standing there, ready to bust a gut at my expense.

After Ginny had disappeared Mike slowly made his way down the uneven stairs of the stands towards where I was standing. If I was a more charitable person, I would have made an effort to meet him half-way to try to save his aging knees. But, he had that stupid smirk I loathed on his face, so I was really feeling like being a vindictive bitch right then.

At least I thought he was wearing a shit eating grin on his face until he got closer to me. Damn it! Maybe I did need glasses because as he closed the distance between us I realized that he actually had a worried look on his face that was nearly overshadowed by an angry glower. I could only hope that the first look was the only one directed at me, but I wasn't sure I wanted to find out the truth.

"What did he say to you?" He demanded as he passed the fifth row of seats while en route to where I was standing.

I instinctively shrunk back against the backstop as I sheepishly answered, "Nothing."

"What?" He asked as he grabbed my left arm to pull me forward. "What was that?"

"OW! Mike! STOP!" I tried to move away from him, but I wasn't willing to hurt either of his hands in order to free myself. Instead I just went as limp as possible while meekly repeating, "Nothing. He didn't say anything to me."

His grip actually loosened as he asked, "Are you sure?"

I stepped out of his hold and moved a couple of steps away from him answering, "Yes, I'm absolutely sure that I ran away like a scare little bitch and told Evelyn where you could find me before he had a chance to see me."

"Brie…" He started in an exasperated tone. "Don't say that."

"What?" I asked as I let him pull me into a hug.

"Don't call yourself that, Brie," he answered as he pressed my head against his chest.

"But I did run away like a…"

"Brianna! Stop that! Now!" He interrupted. "You left and that's a good thing because at least now I won't have to break his jaw."

"What? Mike! No… No! You wouldn't!"

I pushed myself out of his embrace so that I could see his face. His mouth was in a hard line and I'm pretty sure his jaw twitched but I couldn't tell with his stupid beard obscuring the majority of his face.

"I told him that if he ever thought about saying another word to you that I'd knock his teeth out."

I grabbed Mike's right hand, his throwing hand, that was balled up in a fist and said, "Well he didn't come near me, let alone speak to me, so you don't have to worry about doing anything stupid. You know, like punching a teammate and risking having your contract voided by Major League Baseball? I'm fine Mike, so just let it go. Please?"

I'm sure that last 'please' did the trick because he wrapped his arm around my neck answering, "Fine, I'll let it go… for now. And here, you might need this."

I snatched the keys out of his hand and nearly shouted, "MIKE! How long have you had these? Why didn't you just leave them in your hide a key rock?"

"What? I… I thought…"

"Whatever!" I interrupted. "Let's go before **I** punch YOUR teeth out, okay?"

He smirked and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to lead me up the stairs without saying another word.


	2. There's No Phrase That Hits

There's No Phrase That Hits:

I had been to Mike Lawson's house before, so it didn't take me very long to get settled in once I got there. But instead of reacquainting myself with the layout, I just pulled my pajamas out of my suitcase and passed out once my head hit the pillow. I didn't even bother to crawl under the covers, which was unusual for me.

I had a few other pieces of luggage to unpack, but once it and myself were inside, I stopped caring about getting fully settled in. Suddenly I was tired. So beyond tired. I had traveled what felt like more than a day to find out that my host had seemingly forgotten that I was coming to visit and I just didn't have it in me to find the energy to care about anything else.

So, after finding out that I had been forgotten, I then had the distinct pleasure of seeing the one person I was hoping to avoid while I was at the ball park. And to add insult to injury I almost had to pay for the 'privilege' of nearly being publicly berated by him again. Thankfully one of the young ladies working at the box office recognized me and comped me a ticket on Mike Lawson's tab.

Now, I was lying in bed and inhaled the intoxicating scent of fresh brewed coffee mixed in with some bacon grease. There was no way that Mike was frying the bacon for himself because one piece would mean an extra twenty minutes on the treadmill when he got to the gym. There was no way that he was going to subject his old, creaky knees to that punishment, especially not just for some bacon. His willpower was too strong for that. Beer was the only guilty pleasure I've witnessed him to consume on a regular basis. That meant that he was frying the bacon up for me. Which meant that he either didn't care that I might be watching my waistline or he was trying to apologize to me.

Man, how much easier would my life be if the first scenario was the only one that could be true?

I kind of didn't want to give in and accept his peace offering, but what other choice did I have? If I didn't accept it now then he would just keep trying new tactics until it got to be too awkward for me to stay with him. Since that really didn't work for my long-term goals, I figured that my best course of action was to just accept his apology. After I had enjoyed my bacon, coffee and whatever else he had prepared for our breakfast, then I would make sure to have a proper sit down with him to set a few things straight.

I had intentionally planned on getting into town a week before my internship started so that I could get settled into a makeshift routine without feeling rushed. Plus, Mike had a pool that I was more than certain that he had been neglecting. That meant that while he was at the ball park working out, I could stay here and spend the day in and around the water.

That noise that you just heard most definitely wasn't me expressing my delight with a wordless squeal. Nope, not me at all.

I quickly changed into a new navy-blue bikini with white edging around it. I loved the way this color looked on me. It helped to bring out the blue of my blue/green eyes, which was why it was the color that dominated my wardrobe. And it really didn't hurt that one of my favorite MLB players was on the active roster of the San Diego Padres. And he was 'lame' enough to use the team store for all my gifts. Not that I was complaining because there definitely were some nice pieces being churned out for women now by Major League Baseball. Now, if only Mike was a Seattle Mariner. Silver looked much better with my skin tone than gold. But then again, right now he'd being living in Seattle, so I probably wouldn't be wearing a bikini and getting ready to take a dip in his outdoor pool up there right now.

I laughed to myself and thought, _Nah, I'll take So-Cal over the Pacific Northwest any day._

With that thought still tugging my lips into a smile, I pull on a pair of shorts and a light-weight hoody before making my way downstairs. I couldn't help but to laugh because when I looked down my body, all I could see was 'San Diego' emblazoned in white across my chest. I didn't even have to look at my legs to know that there was an all too familiar 'SD' logo on the right leg of my shorts.

Maybe I was being too hard on Mike. I mean, we hadn't known each other for all that long and yet he had been very generous. Even when I made the bone-headed move of messing around with one of his teammates a couple of seasons ago. I'll admit that was totally on me and Mike had actually turned out to be really great about it in the end. Hell, he was still threatening to punch out a Padres' relief pitcher because of me.

 _FUCK!_ I thought to myself with a groan. _I should be nicer to him._

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Mike called out before I made it into the kitchen.

"Yeah, well… it's still technically early if you're making breakfast and I've just started my vacation after finally finishing Spring semester at school so I should get to sleep in once and a while."

"Vacation?" He shot back with an unimpressed eyebrow raise. "I thought…"

"What? I have six days to relax before I become some sleaze ball lawyer's slave."

That comment earned me a smile and a sound that I was sure was some version of a laugh for him. He then turned back to the stove to tend to our breakfast once again… Well, my breakfast since there was a piled with fried egg whites and…l I think it was something edible mixed into the egg whites from what I could see. I don't pretend to understand Mike's weird diet.

"So? Are you heading into the stadium early today?"

I reached over to steal a taste of his egg white concoction. He's told me they were an acquired taste and that one day I might be lucky enough to appreciate them. Maybe today…

"Ow!"

I quickly pulled my hand back before the wooden spoon Mike was holding could connect with my flesh again.

"Those aren't for you. Here, eat this."

I took the plate from him and just stared at it prompting Mike to ask, "What? Have you suddenly lost your appetite?"

I kept my eyes on the food on my plate as I answered, "No, I'm famished… But I'm not really look to eat food that's thrown at me like a threat."

"Brie," he replied as he rolled his eyes. "Come on, please eat it. I even went out and bought bacon for you."

"Really? So, since I missed out on gaining the Freshman 15, you want me to gain, what? The Final 15?"

Once again, he rolled his eyes as he answered, "No, I just thought that bacon, eggs and toast was your breakfast of choice. If not, I can always make you something else."

I looked over at his plate before I pulled mine closer to me and replied, "No, that's okay. This looks much more edible than that mess you made over there."

"Shut up, you know you're jealous of my breakfast."

"Yeah… sure," I retorted with a laugh as he elbowed me in the side. "Whatever gets you through the day."

We shared another laugh and then the need for food over took both of us. After a few minutes, he took a gulp from his glass of… I don't even know. It was juice of some kind of fruit that I didn't recognize before he said, "Back to your earlier question… Yes, I am going to the park early today."

"To work with a pitcher?"

"No."

"Oh. So…? Is it your back

He turned only his eyes to look at me as he answered, "Maybe."

I finished the bite of food in my mouth before I put down my fork and pushed my nearly empty plate away. "Mike, if it's really being such an issue for you… you know that I can help with that, right?"

He waggled his eyebrows and I was glad that I had swallowed my food because I probably would have choked otherwise. Since he was going to be such a juvenile, I decided to try to be the more mature one and simply added, "Yes, I really can. You do remember how I helped to pay for my undergrad degree, right?"

He quickly looked away and started eating his food with a renewed vigor as he answered, "I thought that we had agreed not to discuss that."

"OH MY GOD!" I nearly shrieked as I pushed away from the kitchen bar. "You're fucking kidding me, right? I wasn't a stripper Mike! When will you stop with that?"

"I know that you weren't. You were… uhh…"

"It's called 'Massage Therapy'. I'm still a registered RMT in the State of California to this day."

"Right… You're a 'masseuse'."

I glared at him as I started to walk away from the kitchen. "Seriously? You're still going to play that stupid game with me?"

He turned on his seat with his plate in his hand while he continued to eat. Something about the look on my face must amused him because he smirked and said, "Well if the…"

"STOP! Mike, just stop!" I cried out in desperation. "Can't you just stop being a cocky asshole for two seconds and just be my…?"

The rest of my words got caught in my throat as the blond who had been glued to her phone in the hallway at the stadium the night before walked into the room. I still couldn't place who she was even though I knew she looked familiar to me.

Mike didn't seem to notice that anyone else had entered the room as he asked, "Brie…?"

I just nodded to the woman now standing behind him as my only reply. He turned to look at her. Before he could say anything, she held up her hands saying, "I didn't realize you were entertaining a 'guest'. Sorry, I'll just…"

She turned to leave without finishing her thought prompting him to jump to his feet as he called out, "Amelia! Wait!"

 _Amelia? Oh… Oh shit!_ Now I could finally place her. I shook my head at the thoughts that wanted to invade my brain and turned to head back to the guest room where I was staying.

"Brie! Wait!" Mike called out without turning to look at me. Instead, his attention remained on Amelia and his desire to keep her from leaving his house in anger. My curiosity got the best of me, so I froze in my spot and watched as Mike stopped her and quietly spoke to her. I have no idea what he was saying, but it looked like he had convinced her to come back to the kitchen area.

"Alright Brie, you were saying…?"

"Nothing," I retorted with a temperamental bite. "I wasn't saying anything that can't wait."

"Brie…"

"No, Mike. You have… company." I was so annoyed with him that my last comment came out sounding harsher than I meant it to sound. "Besides, you have to get to the ball park, so we can just pick this up later… Or… y'know, never."

I turned to leave again but stopped when Mike shouted, "Brianna Lynn Grissom!"

I slowly pivoted on my right heel to face him with an incredulous look on my face. To my surprise he wasn't wearing any kind of a smirk that I thought would come with his exclamation. Normally when he used my full name he did it to tease me, but today he actually looked annoyed and had an air of superiority about him. He almost looked like my father when he forbade me from moving to San Diego. (Well that's if my father had a small animal living on his face.)

The fact that he thought that I would put up with him acting that way with me angered me beyond belief. I returned his annoyed look with one of my own as I shot back an angry, "Seriously?"

"Brie…" His whole demeanor, including his tone softened as he continued, "Please don't leave. Brie, please finish your thought." He turned slightly then said to the other woman in the room, "Amelia I swear this will explain everything."

She simply nodded, but she didn't look like she believed what he was saying. He moved to touch her arm, but she stepped away so that she was just far away enough that he couldn't actually touch her flesh. She couldn't have seen the hurt on his face, but the look definitely broke a small part of my heart.

He turned his full attention back to me, but before he could make another plea I held up my hand to silence him.

"What I was saying is…" I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath to try to center myself. "I was asking if you could stop being a cocky asshole for two seconds and just be my brother."

I very slowly opened my eyes after I finished speaking. Amelia had moved closer to Mike's side as she asked, "Brother? Did I hear that right?"


	3. Like An Ocean Needs The Sands

Like An Ocean Needs The Sands:

"Brother? Did I hear that right?" Amelia asked, turning her body so that she was only looking at Mike.

"Yeah, you did..." He started to reply, but she steamrolled over his words saying, "I thought you told me you were an only child."

I had slowly started to back out of the room to give them some privacy, but I stopped moving when Mike fixed me with a glare and answered her, "Technically I am."

She looked like she didn't believe him, so I took a step towards the two of them saying, "I really should have said 'half-brother'." I thought that I was being helpful, but she looked anything but impressed. I figured she needed more convincing, so I started to ramble as I continued, "Umm... Same dad, different moms. And as you can tell from the age difference... uhh... that is to say..."

"Brie?" Mike cut in mercifully. "I think you've helped enough. Why don't you...?"

He nodded towards the stairs and I let out a relieved sigh. "Right I was... I was going to go for a swim. That is if...?"

"Water should be warm. Enjoy."

"Thanks." I started to make my retreat, but paused as I mentally kicked myself. "And it was nice... well weird meeting you. Hopefully next time we can actually, y'know... talk."

She probably replied, but Mike had given me permission to leave, so that's exactly what I did. As fast as my feet could take me, politeness be damned. As I reached the door outside, I grabbed my towel off a chair without missing a beat.

When I had gotten dressed this morning, I had done so thinking that I would have Mike's house to myself. Now I was really wishing I had gone with my tasteful one piece instead of my revealing, but equally comfortable, bikini. This was just beyond awkward, but I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind.

Amelia moved around the island to watch me as I slipped off my hoody and shorts and tossed them on a lounger by the pool. Once I dove into the water, she turned to Mike and asked in a disbelieving tone, "Your sister?"

"Half-sister," he corrected in a careful tone.

"Right. So, why would you tell me you were an only child when you have at least one half-sibling who... who seems pretty comfortable here."

He tried to approach her, but she side-stepped around him. "Look, the truth is that she and I are still trying to figure things out. Some things, like her swimming in my pool, have come easily and naturally to us. But other things... well... like I said, we're figuring it out, okay? I didn't not tell you about her to keep this from you, I just..."

He paused there because he wasn't exactly sure how he wanted to explain everything. She mis-read him stopping as him not wanting to explain this to her, so she almost angrily asked, "You just what Mike? What?"

I stole a glance at the kitchen and I immediately saw Mike standing in the window watching me. Great. Just when I thought this whole situation couldn't be any more weird and uncomfortable, I had to notice him watching me like I was an animal at the zoo... or rather aquarium.

"It's just that... we... Brie and I that is... we had a huge falling out a little over a year and a half ago. Our relationship was so new that neither of us thought that it would survive. The last time she left here, I was sure that that would be the last time I'd ever see her. But now she's back and we really want to... I don't even know if I can explain it properly."

Amelia walked up behind Mike and was so close that to him that he could feel the heat radiating from her body. "Can you tell me what happened?"

He turned to look at her and answered, "I can't go into details right now because it would take too long, but... long and short? You know Gibbons, right?"

"The left handed pitcher who thinks that he's God's gift to the Earth? Yeah, I know of him. He's been a total pain in the ass to Ginny since she was called up."

"Yeah, that sounds like hi,. Well, Brie is a huge baseball fan... has been since before she knew that we were related... but she really didn't know much about how some players act. She ended up hooking up with him at Spring Training and... and she thought that they were more than just... uhh..."

"I get it Mike, please go on."

"Okay. Well, then she came to visit San Diego. We were going to try hanging out. After her first weekend here, I offered her to stay with me and then she started coming to games. The first few games he didn't see her because she waited for me in the stands. Hell, she even used that time to become friends with a couple of the guys from the grounds crew."

"Smart girl."

"Sometimes." Mike paused to watch me again. "So, the first night that she finally got the courage to wait for me with the other wives and girlfriends, she... she got really excited when she saw him and tried to play it cool, but he..." Mike's jaw locked in ander and the rest of his words came out through clenched teeth. "The fucker walks up to her and just starts screaming at her, calling her a psycho bitch and a stalker... in front of everyone. Luckily Evelyn was out there or... or I'm not even sure what she would have done because she was so upset."

"I knew I hated that jerk for a reason. So what happened next? What did you do?"

"The worst possible thing ever." Amelia gave him a look to which Mike threw up his hands and added, "I'm not proud of it, but I can be honest. I wasn't... well I'm still not used to having someone like her in my life... See? Exactly. (Amelia had rolled her eyes as if to say 'No shit, Sherlock.) So, I stupidly blamed her. I insisted she tell me what she had done to upset him... what she did to fuck up his focus if he needed to pitch the next day."

"Mike, you didn't."

"Like I said, I'm not proud of it."

"So what did she say to you? I mean, how did she respond?"

"She didn't say anything to me. Not one single word. When we got back here, she just went up to the guest room. I figured that meant we were going to sleep on it and discuss it the next day."

"And that's it? You just let her go to sleep after you did that to her?"

"Hey, what can I say? I couldn't use my usual charms on her because that would just get weird and extremely uncomfortable."

"Right. So, you wussed out and...?"

"Well, I woke up to half a dozen voicemails from a mutual friend who sounded like she would be more than happy to castrate me on Brie's behalf. After listening to the third message I decided to go and find Brie so that we could talk about it."

"Oh no this is getting good."

Mike let out a humorless laugh at her well placed insult. "No really. When I got to her room it was completely empty. I mean it looked like she had never been in there. Well except..."

"Except what?"

"Except... she left the Padres' jacket I had bought for her."

"So she just left? No note? No text? No voicemail? Nothing?"

"Nothing. I tried calling her, but it just went to voicemail. I didn't really have any way to get a hold of her other than her cell number, so I went to Evelyn..."

"The mutual friend?"

"Yep. But all that she would tell me was that Brie had made it home safe."

"Wow. So, she froze you out, even by proxy?"

"Yeah, she's just that loveable."

Amelia approached him again and this time she actually did wrap an arm around his waist. Now they were both standing at the window watching me. Awesome. Today is just getting better and better.

 _Huh. I wonder how long I can hold my breath under water now._

"What did you do to finally win her back?"

"That's the damnedest part about this whole thing. I figured that she was done with me and had totally written me off."

"Wow. She got you to totally back off? That truly is amazing. So, how DID you two get here?"

"Again, it's a super long story that we can get into another time. But she reached out to me. First it was a birthday car and then a card to congratulate me on being named to the All-Star Game roster and some other random achievements. Some came to the stadium and others came here."

"So, you two became pen pals?"

"No, but that was only because none of them had a return address. The first card only made it to me in the clubhouse because she had written her name on it and the clubbie assumed I would know who it was from."

"That's... wow... that's pretty amazing."

"Yeah. She's... Anyways. After a few random cards, I get this letter in the mail. Turns out, her roommate had been finding the cards and the letter in envelopes addressed to me. She thought she was being helpful sending them off to me for Brie..."

"Do I want to know what happened next?"

Mike waggled his eyebrows then answered, "You wouldn't be standing here if you didn't."

"True. Please go on."

"Alright. So I no sooner have the letter opened and read that I'm getting a phone call from Brie. She was in a panic and apologizing to me for what she had written. That then turned into us talking all night. After a few more calls, I was offering to let her stay here while she did her internship over the summer."

"Really? What did the letter say?"

He grinned answering, "Pretty sure you can guess. She definitely knows some very interesting insults."

That made Amelia laugh and she hugged him around the waist. "Alright. Yesterday when you left the clubhouse like a man on a mission?"

"She was supposed to be waiting for me, but Evelyn gave me THE nod as soon as she saw me. I couldn't stop to explain because I wanted to check on her."

"What did he say to her?"

"If he's as smart as he thinks he is, he'll never say another word to her ever again. But she left the second she saw him to save him from making that mistake."

Amelia took a step away from him so that she could see his face better. "You go into serious 'big brother' mode when you talk about this." Mike opened his mouth to respond, but she wouldn't let him speak. "No, it's good. It's what she needs from you if you're serious about fixing your relationship with her."

"Thanks. It's good to hear that I'm doing something else perfectly."

Amelia laughed again then said, "Pretty sure I didn't call you perfect. Shoot, I have to get going. Still working on the Nike deal. But before I go... just curious... Was Brie a hug Padres' fan before she found out you were her half-brother? Because it looks like she has a pretty... complete wardrobe."

Mike looked outside again and noticed that the shorts, hoody and towel on the lounger were all gifts from him. Knowing where Amelia's thoughts where going, he answered, "She has impeccable taste and was a Mike Lawson fan before she figured out our relationship. Since I missed over twenty years of birthday and Christmas presents, I kind of went overboard playing catch up."

"Aww," Amelia replied, not trying to hide that she was mocking him. "You're trying to buy back her love."

Mike bristled in his sot as he snapped out, "No I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Amelia answered in a finite tone. "But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Now, I really have to go, but..." She stepped closer to him and whispered, "Maybe you should come to my place tonight so that we don't disturb your sister."

"Hmm... That sounds like a plan to me."

Once Amelia stepped into Mike's side and looked like she was whispering sweet nothings into his ear, I made a concerted effort not to watch them. Turns out my lung capacity had been improving with my time spent at the pool at school. Now I could make it across Mike's pool nearly two and a half times before I was forced to come up for air.

I'm sorry, but you tell me how'd you'd feel watching your brother make out with some chick in his kitchen. Now add the very uncomfortable quirk of not knowing he was your brother for most of your life. Yeah... that and the fact that you used to have daydreams about you being in her place and not just in the kitchen.

"BRIE!" Mike's garbled voice brought me out of my thoughts.

I slowly stood up from my seat on the bottom of the pool. Call me crazy, but I love the burning sensation in my lungs when they were trying to tell me I needed oxygen. It wasn't like a 'look death in the face' kind of thing. For me it was more of a way to remind myself not to overthink things. Y'know, like me acknowledging that my problems only seemed unsolvable because I made them overly complicated. Sometimes you just need to remember to breathe in order to regroup and put everything into proper perspective.

"BRIE!"

I broke the surface and sucked in a deep breath of air with a smile on my face. Mike had gone completely silent, so I pushed my hair off my face and swiped the water out of my eyes. When I finally opened my eyes, I gasped in a breath and it had nothing to do with giving my lungs the oxygen that they needed, but everything to do with the sight before me.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I swam to the edge of the pool where he was standing.

"Are you?" He shot back, still looking shell-shocked.

I stood up taller in my place as I calmly replied, "Yeah. Actually I'm feeling pretty good. Me plus water equals a world of awesome."

"'A world of awesome'? You're saying that you sitting on the bottom of my pool for like two minutes isn't a cry for help?"

"I almost hit the two minute mark?" I'm guessing the excitement in my voice wasn't appreciated by the look on Mike's face. "I mean... uhh... were you able to smooth things over with your girlfriend?"

"Brie..."

I moved to the stairs and got out of the pool as I explained, "I've been working on my stamina underwater with a friend of mine who's a personal trainer." I wrapped my towel around my body before I turned to look at him again. The look on his face stole my breath and I lost all of the humor in my tone when I continued, "The water... that has always been my thing. My other... they didn't really like swimming, but mom always said that I was her fish out of water." I moved my hair to show him the simple Pisces symbol tattoo on my neck by my ear. "Not that I've ever had any thoughts of self-harm, but I swear to you that drowning myself wouldn't even break the top ten ways I'd off myself."

"Oh, I see. You still can't get over that you'll never have a chance with me. I get it. That's a hard pill to swallow, so you had to distract yourself."

"MIKE!" I tried to scold him with a weak punch in the arm. "You are such an egotistical douche."

"But you still love me"

"Fucking biology," I quietly grumbled while I let him pull me into a hug.

He gently patted the side of my head that wasn't pressed to his chest as ne nearly whispered, "Really? You're good? We're good?"

"We're good," I replied hugging his waist. "But we should probably separate before I ruin your clothes and make you late."

I swear he didn't want to let go, but eventually his arms did fall away from my body.

"You're right, I have to stop letting you feel me up like that." I didn't have to glare at him before he relented with a sincere, "Sorry... sorry. That was.. Not what I wanted to say. What I meant to ask was... Since you don't have to be at work tomorrow, how would you feel about grabbing dinner with me after the game?"

"Really? You're okay with being seen with me in public?"

"Brie... of course I am." He paused then sheepishly added, "I thought I could invite Amelia too."

I smiled to myself and replied, "Dinner with your sister and your girlfriend? Is tomorrow a day off?"

"No, it's not... but it's a night game. That's why neither of us are diving to dinner tonight.'

I barked out a laugh saying, "Alright. Sounds like a plan."


	4. Or A Dirty Old Shoe That Fits

Or A Dirty Old Shoe That Fits:

****FLASHBACK****

My heart hadn't stopped racing since the plane landed in Phoenix and none of my breathing exercises seemed to help. I had even taken off my watch with a heart rate monitor because I was afraid that if I saw that my heart rate was over one twenty five one more time that I would legitimately have a heart attack. I was too young to die that way.

Despite all of that, somehow I made it to Peoria in my rental car in one piece. Once I was in the parking lot of the Mariners' and Padres' shared complex, I sort of wished I had accepted my friend Scarlett's offer to come with me. It was her first time going to Spring Break in Florida and I didn't want to take that away from her. It wasn't my first time at Spring Training, but I still felt like I had no idea what I was doing all the same.

After about twenty minutes of sitting in my rental car, I finally decided to get out. Mostly, I needed to get some fresh air because I had forgotten to crrack a window. Trust me, if you ever see me screaming into my phone trying to get someone in a uniform to come help a dog locked in a hot car, it's because I know how it feels. Totally unintentional, but true all the same. Once I was out of the car, I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. I hadn't bought tickets for tonight's game, so I thought that I should do that first. But then I got distracted by a group of guys talking about Mike Lawson belting home runs off a pitching coach and suddenly my feet were heading in the direction of the practice fields.

The great thing about Spring Training is that not everything was 'pay for play'. You could watch all the minor league games your mind could handle for free. (Mostly because the sun would start to try to melt your brain by the fourth or fifth inning of most of the games you sat in on.) Plus, it was the only time that you could go to a Minor League park (of sorts) and take in your own food and drinks. (It took me three days before I consciously realized that I could bring a cooler with bottled water with me while I watched practice then Minor League games later that day.)

But it wasn't until the fourth day that my life changed irrevocably. After watching the San Diego Padres crush the Oakland Athletics on their home turf, I somehow found myself outside by where the players' friends, fame and 'other' titled ladies were waiting. Honestly, I have no idea how that happened, but here I was standing... waiting... feeling like an idiot.

Most of the ladies seemed to know each other. Or at least they appeared to know OF each other. And then there was me. All I wanted was thirty seconds to talk to one of my favorite baseball players. (No matter what he says, Mike Lawson was NEVER a 'hero of mine. That's a lie he fabricated that I don't fight too hard because I know it would bruise his delicate ego if I did. Shut up, Mike! It's true dammit!)

It didn't take long for the awkwardness of the moment to start to get to me. Here I was, standing outside of the locker room waiting to ambush a man whose career I had been following since... well since forever. How crazy was that?

As the insanity of what I was doing hit me, I backed into a darkish corner away from the crowd to try to regroup. I pulled out the two pictures that had prompted me to exchange my airline tickets to Orlando, Florida for ones to and from Phoenix, Arizona. I used the photos as a focal point right now even though they had been nothing but a distraction for the last couple of months. Seriously, I nearly failed a couple of my mid-terms because I couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like for me to be here in this moment.

I stared down at the photos and suddenly I felt my eyes start to tear up. What the hell was I doing here? Why the hell did I think this would help to fix some of the bullshit in my life? Was I really still that juvenile? Did I really believe that Mike Lawson would think that I was special and suddenly everything would make sense?

That's when the first tear hit the back of my hand. Feeling that moisture seemed to flip a switch inside me because I instantly regretted ever stepping foot onto the plane to Phoenix. This was such a dick move and so unbelievably unfair to him.

 _ABORT!_ My brain screamed at me. _Abort now!_

While I was lost in my own thoughts I had slowly started to make my way past the small crowd to head towards the parking lot, but I stopped when I heard a woman hiss near my ear, "Why do you have childhood photos of Mike Lawson? He won't sign those you know."

"Oh... no... These? No, they aren't..." I tried to explain, but I was too tongue tied and distracted to get the actual words out in my defense.

"Aren't what?" A male's voice called out form behind us. "Evie? Who are terrorizing now?"

The woman beside me let out an unimpressed noise in the back of her throat as she plucked the photos out of my hands. She then turned to her husband (because hello, who doesn't know Blip Sanders if they are going to called themselves a Padres' fan?)

"She has baby photos of Mike. Tell me who's terrorizing who now?"

That last comment snapped me out of my daze. I quickly snatched the pictures back out of her hands growling out, "They aren't baby pictures of Mike Lawson for fuck's sake! They're of my dad, so back off!"

Blip and Evelyn stared at me in surprise, so I decided this officially was the stupidest thing I had ever done and decided to just abandon my plan completely.

I clutched the photos to my chest and whispered to myself, "Fuck this noise, I'm out of here."

But unfortunately for me, my self-deprecating comments were practically silenced by a cocky sounding catcher asking, "What has what of me?"

After my quiet declaration, I hadn't actually been able to force my feet to move. Evelyn once again used that to her advantage. She plucked the vintage papers out of my hands and passed them to Mike answering, "SHE has THESE."

Mike probably smirked in my direction, but I honestly was too devastated to look at anything but my feet. He seemed to take a couple of seconds to look at what had been handed to him before he passed them back to Evelyn with a dismissive, "Those aren't of me."

I had once again hidden myself into a shadow, so Mike hadn't gotten a chance to catch a glimpse of me. After he shoved the pictures back into Evelyn's hands, Mike made a beeline to his vehicle. A couple of autograph hounds tried to get his attention, but MIke was too task driven to notice them.

The three of us watched him in silence as the catcher hurried to the Sanctuary of his sports car. Once his taillights exited out of the parking lot, the fog covering my brain started to lift and I was finally able to think somewhat clearly.

As much as the photos were becoming the bane of my existence, I didn't want to ruin them completely because at the end of the day they were still photos of my dad. That was the only reason that I walked up to Evelyn and quietly asked, "Can I please have those photos of my father back? Please?"

Evelyn started to hand them back, but Blip stopped her. He took possession of them and asked, "But why do they look so much like Mike?"

This was when my frustration got the best of me. Yay for being a Pisces. Emotions run high and people mistake certain reactions for being sadof 'overly emotional'. Usually I would try to hide my true feelings from everyone so that they wouldn't be misinterpreted. You know, people think that I was sad instead of frustrated when they saw tears in my eyes. But, right now it might actually help me.

I let my tears spill freely down my cheeks. Before I approached the beloved center fielder and his wife, I swallowed down my anger and tried to sounds as pathetic as possible when I asked, "Can I please just have them back? Please?"

Evelyn started to move his hand towards me, but Blip stopped her. What the hell was he doing? His teammate had already said that they of him, so why wouldn't he just let us move on?

"Wait a second. Okay... wait... Why does Mike Lawson look so much like your father?"

"Good question, Baby," Evelyn praised as she took a step back and away from me. "Out with it, Mystery Girl."

They both thought that they were wearing me down, which gave me an opening to steal my pictures back from Blip's slackened grip. After I had them in hand, I moved quickly towards my car. How dare they commandeer my photos and just show them to Mike like that?

After I was a few large paces away from the couple, I and replied, "Why do you think I brought these stupid things with me? I wanted... hoped..." My tears wanted to reappear so I forced myself to swallow those feelings so that I could more angrily add, "And thanks for screwing that up for me."

After that I avoided the Padres' complex like the plague. I did q quick search online and found out that if I stayed in Scottsdale I would have a better chance of running into Mike away from the field. Unfortunately, that hadn't worked. Well, at least not with him. Instead I met a pitcher who seemed to be hell bento on plugging every available hole he could find. Okay, that was 'now' me's interpretation, but the description still fits.

I didn't actually get close to meeting Mike Lawson again face to face until Evelyn Sanders set up a meeting in San Francisco and we were able to talk things out.

****END FLASHBACK****

"So? The 'mutual friend', as you put it," Amelia commented "she was the one who forced you to together?"

"Yeah, she manipulated both of us so that we ended up alone at a table in a nice restaurant," I confirmed. I could see that Amelia had a few questions because my story had left a couple of holes in the narrative. "While I was at a mall window shopping to kill time one day, I ran into Evelyn. She 'forced' me to have lunch with her and I ended up telling her about the real reason I had traveled to Spring Training that year. After that she promised to help me to get a one on one meeting with Mike, but I was flying out the next day because I had to get back to school, so I couldn't meet him in Arizona."

"That's why the meeting happened in San Fran."

Amelia hadn't worded it as a question, but Mike still answered, "Yep. And imagine my surprise when my blind date tells me she's really my half-sister."

"Gross. Evelyn did not tell you that," I retorted with an unimpressed look on my face.

He smirked then said, "Well, no. But what else was I supposed to think when I'm escorted to my table and all I see is a beautiful woman sitting there waiting for me.

Both Amelia and I rolled our eyes at that. She took a sip from her wine glass then asked, "Do you mind me asking how you figured out you two might be related?"

I finished chewing the food in my mouth and then pushed my nearly empty plate away as I answered, "I was doing a project in one of my Sociology classes. We were supposed to track our genealogy and all that, y'know? While I was in the library one of my guy friends pulled out a Sports Illustrated and turned it to an article about Mike that had just been published. In it there were even some pictures of him from when he was a kid. My buddy then pointed out the likeness between the two of them."

"Oh... What did you do after that?"

After finishing the wine in my nearly full glass, I replied, "I totally played it cool and didn't freak out at all." Mike snorted in a breath around his pint glass of beer. "He's right. I so didn't play it cool. I actually stole Teddy's Sports Illustrated and booked it to my childhood home to grill my dad. He just shutdown on me and refused to answer any of my questions. I tried a few more times with him before I exchanged my tickets so that I could go to Peoria and try to get the truth from the asshat seated next to you."

"You love me," Mike joked before he took a long drink from his glass.

I shot him an amused glare as I replied, "Only because I have to. If only I could..."

Amelia laughed at our exchange. "Okay, okay. I think I understand all of this a bit more now. But you and Gibbons? What's going on with that now?"

My mouth dropped open as my wine glass nearly fell to the floor. Mike caught my right hand then said to her, "Like I already told you, that's ancient history. He won't ever talk to her again if he wants to continue to walk without a permanent limp and wants to stay a Padre."

My eyes moved from Amelia's face to Mike's as I hoarsely asked, "Really? You threatened his career...? For me?"

Mike's smile softened into the one that I had gotten used to seeing; the one he had seemingly reserved just for me as he answered, "Of course I did. That asshole has been treating women like his own personal doormat and you gave me a perfect excuse to put him in his place."

"Well, when you put it that way... you're welcome."

Amelia chuckled again as she looked at her watch. "I guess what they say is true, time flies when you're having fun."

I pulled out my phone and saw that it was almost 11 pm. Had we really been chatting that long?

"sorry, but I have an early meeting tomorrow. "

"That's alright, Amelia. Plus, it's getting past Mike's bedtime too," I teased.

Mike glared at me while Amelia laughed. I moved to get my wallet out of my purse, but he stopped my saying, "Brie, it's my treat."

"Really? Thanks."

We walked together to the front doors of the restaurant. I got into a cab and they got into another. There was no discussion about it, it just happened organically. I kind of felt weird about it because I felt like I had chased Mike out of his house. Don't get me wrong, I really wasn't keen on hearing what they would be up to tonight (Hell I kind of wanted some brain bleach just thinking about it), but it was his home so it felt off.

Plus, I had never spent a night at his place alone. But, I guess I was going to have to get used to it. It wasn't like I was going to be following the Padres for road games. I mean I could, but there's no way I'd be keeping my internship.

Lucky for me, ingesting more than half a bottle of wine helped me to keep the weirdness of being at Mike Lawson's house all by my lonesome at bay. I still had a hard time believing that I was in Mike Lawson's house most days, let alone being his blood relation. In the last five years, my life had gotten very, very strange. So strange that it could preoccupy my thoughts and keep me overly distracted if I allowed it, but I didn't, at least not tonight.


	5. And If All The World Was Perfect I Would

And If All The World Was Perfect I Would Only Ever Want To See Your Scars:

By the time I woke up the next day, the sun was high in the sky. I felt mildly guilty for wasting one of my few free days in bad. But after that thought, I sunk further into the covers and mattress and pretty much all of my guilt melted away. On second thought, I wasn't going to have many more chances to just lounge around the house or pool, especially alone, so I figured in the long run it really wasn't that much of a waste.

I would have been content to stay in bed all day, but my stomach started to remind me that eating was a necessity. At first, I was just going to ignore the growling sound coming from my mid-section, but the pain became too uncomfortable for me not to do something about it. After rolling out of bed, I went to the closet to find something to put on over the tight tank top and short shorts that I wore as pajamas. As I started to pull a hoody off a hanger, I remembered that Mike wasn't home. I didn't have to cover up if I didn't want to... and honestly, I really didn't want to do that right now because going back to bed might still be in the cards after I ate something and getting dressed felt like it was going to take too much effort.

After scooping up my phone, I made my way to the kitchen to start breakfast. Whoops, I mean a late lunch. Guess that wine hit me a lot harder than I thought it would. I'd have to remember that fact once I started my internship. If I got asked out for drinks at the end of the week, I'd have to remember just to stick to beer.

I started scrolling through my notifications and actually laughed out loud because I had a few text messages from Mike. He mostly wanted to make sure I was alright after the dinner with Amelia. He thought everything had gone well and hoped I felt the same way.

'OMG Does the MLB know you are a big GIRL under that Bushman beard?'

I chuckled to myself and waited a couple of minutes before I typed out, 'I had fun. Amelia seems pretty cool. She's offered to sit down with me to talk about being an agent & stuff... Guess 'I'll have to be nice to her until that's done.'

'HAHAHAHAHA You 3 the beard!'

'NO, I DON'T! Plus, I'm ur sister... STOP hitting on me!"

I had pulled out enough supplies from the fridge to put together a pretty epic sandwich. Mike kept his fridge fully stocked, especially with beer. (Seriously, for being a health-conscious athlete, he had a LOT of beer in his fridge.) Once my masterpiece was complete, I stationed myself on the couch in front of his TV.

'HALF sister. That... ok... Yeah, I see it now. I'll stop.'

My reply was an emoticon of the little yellow head 'raising the roof'. Mike might be old, but I was sure that he would get the reference. Plus, I'm pretty sure that saying was coined by one of his contemporaries. But then again, he could be pretty dense sometimes.

'Score 1 for Brie!'

'Don't get used to it.'

'Oh Mike. No worries, Big Bro… I'll throw you a can of corn every once in a while, so you can pretend ur the funny one.'

'HAR HAR I'm laughing so hard right now.'

'R U sitting down?'

'Yeah… I'm in my chair in front of my locker. Why?'

'Ok… Good.'

"Good!?'

'Yep. Wouldn't want u to throw ur back out B4 Ginny's had a chance to warm up.'

'Hardy HAR HAR.'

I felt good about my witty responses, so I rewarded myself with eating my sandwich and drinking Mike's beer. Mike thought that he was so clever, but I had always been the funny one in my group of friends. Maybe it was something in our DNA. Once I figured out the truth about Mike and me, I had secretly been taking notes about our similarities so that I could try to keep track of them all. So far, baseball and competitiveness were still at the very top of the list.

'OK. Have to break up the Def Comedy Jam for a sec. Are you planning on coming to the game tonight?'

I looked down at my outfit, or rather lack thereof, and chuckled to myself. For a second I was tempted to snap a picture of how I looked right then and send it to Mike. His reaction would be legendary. Maybe I could even get Blip to send me a photo of what Mike looked like on the floor after he had his stroke or heart attack.

Okay, maybe that would be bad.

'Nah. Gonna have a veg day. 72 hrs of freedom left'

'Oh… Ok. Let me know if you change your mind. OH! And don't forget I'll be late tonight.'

I shook my head because I couldn't believe that he would think that I would forget about tonight.

'I'm not the old on, Beardy McCracksalot. I remember Ginny's Nike party's tonight.'

'Hey! Watch it!'

"What?! What'd I say?'

"Fine. Laugh it up.'

"Already have… just enjoying my beer now.'

'MY beer.'

'That too. Hey… have a good game… and try to have fun at the party.'

'Thanks. Stay out of trouble.'

'I'll try.'

'BRIE!'

My name came with a frowny face emoticon, so I tried to appease him by answering, 'Being this funny has made me sleepy. You take care of business on the field and at the party while I rest.'

'Who's the old one now?'

"Still you. You know I'm right. Plus, your head should be in the game and NOT harassing me! PS Seriously, have fun tonight. Can't wait to hear about it tomorrow.'

And those became my famous last words. I had actually gone to bed early (well early for anyone who isn't a geriatric) that night. My first sound sleep in months was interrupted by the unending loop of the chorus to Styxx's 'Renegade'. I tried to ignore it, but that was soon replaced by AC/DC's 'Back in Black', so I got up to try to make all of the excessive noise to stop.

'What?" I questioned without even trying to hide my irritation.

"Brie? Brie? Are you there?"

"Scar?" I asked as I rubbed some of the sleep out of my eyes. "Scar? Are you stranded somewhere? Or hurt? Because if you aren't, I might come there and strangle you myself."

She let out an uncomfortable laugh before she replied, "I know you need to hoard your beauty sleep right now, but I promise… it's important. AND! The next event you HAVE to go to with Mike, I have a dress ready to give to you. You'll look so gorgeous that not only will every tabloid reader want to be you, Mike will wish you weren't related."

That made me laugh. Scarlett (Scar) and I had been friends since high school. She had moved onto design school in LA while I went to Stanford to pursue my law degree. I had always joked with her that she would have to design all of my outfits when I became a highly sought-after sport's agent.

"Alright," I relented, still struggling to be more alert. "What can I help you with at… four fifteen in the morning?"

I heard her sigh again before she answered, "I'm really sorry, Brie, but you are the only person I could think of that might be able to help…"

"Help with what?" I interrupted quickly in the haze of my exhaustion fueled anger.

"With Ginny Baker," she blurted out knowing that would get my full and undivided attention.

Just as I'm sure she expected me to do, I sat up, now fully alert, and asked, "What's happened to Ginny?"

"I honestly don't know, but my friend Cara has been trying to get a hold of anyone that can help her and I thought of you."

"Okay," I answered as I heard Mike crashing around his house. "What can I do to help? Come on Scar, just spit it out already. Mike's..."

"Wait! Brie! That might help! Cara is trying to get a hold of Ginny's agent. Apparently she witnessed something she HAD to hear."

I frowned as I replied, "Amelia? You don't need Mike to get a hold of her, I have her number."

As I spoke to one of my best friends on the planet, I heard the sound of something crashing to the floor downstairs. Suddenly I realized that Mike might actually be too drunk to get himself to bed, so I quickly added, "I'll text you her number in a sec. Just make sure that Cara takes care of her, okay? She still has a couple of days before her start, but..."

"But she's a Padre, so no one should try to fuck with her. I know, I know. I've heard what you will do to anyone who tries, Brie. Thanks for the help."

She disconnected the call before I could reply, so I just stared at my phone for a second. Had Scar really just hung up on me? That was such a foreign concept for me that right now it truly had me baffled. That was until I heard another loud curse from Mike off in the distance.

I quickly texted her before I abandoned my phone so that I could find Mike. I then found myself running out of my room calling out, "Mike? Are you okay?"

"Shh..." He replied not too quietly once I reached his side. "We should wake up Brie. She's starting super important work soon."

I chuckled and caught him at the bottom of the stairs to the bedrooms. Obviously he hadn't realized that it was me, Brie, who was keeping him from falling onto his battered knees.

"It's okay Mike, I'm up."

"BRIE!" He praised like I had cured him of all of his ailments that have plagued him into his old age. "Brianna, the only woman who really loves me. Thank you."

I was too concentrated on not dropping his weight that I didn't notice his comment. Instead I just helped him to his bed and dumped him onto his mattress. He was snoring by the time I pulled his shoes off, so I just left him to sleep it off while he was still dressed in his suit.


	6. You Know They Can Have The Universe

You Know They Can Have The Universe:

After that night, I didn't really see Mike much, well at least not in person, because I was busy at work. We would leave each other notes on the island, but if I wanted to see his face, I usually had to watch ESPN or Fox Sports. It was kind of weird living in a house with someone you only communicated with through texts or notes. But then again, it seemed to be working for Mike and me, so who was I to judge?

'GO! CATCH! Do your fucking job! I texted with a chuckle from my desk at the office where I was interning for a sports' agent.

'Going now. You behave tonight. Don't bring home any strangers.'

I just laughed at that ludacris response because I felt like I was at the midpoint of my day. Sure, it was actually the end of the day here and everyone was getting ready to go out for their 'end of the week drinks', I still felt like I had a thousand things to do. (Which technically I did but most of it had to wait until we got replies on Monday.) I was hoping to be invited to go with the girls in the office and was trying my hardest not to look like I was lingering at my desk while I waited for the invitation. Then again, who was to say that I'd get invited out with the ladies? If I was Mike Lawson, I would expect it with a certain amount of swagger, but that wasn't me. Me? I just sat at my desk pretending that I was studying the names of players that might become available for trades, free agency or whatever else while the others packed up for the day.

"Hey Brie! Aren't you done with all of that yet?"

I turned to look at Tara, the receptionist for the office and asked, "Done what?"

"Work, Silly," she replied with a scoff as she approached me. "You're coming out with us, aren't you? Or do you have a hot date?"

I shrugged because I was too shy to answer her first question as I mumbled out, "No... no hot date."

"Shut up! Wait! Michelle totally invited you, didn't she?"

Again, I shrugged and stared at my desktop saying, "No, she didn't. But that's okay."

"No! No, it isn't. We all want you there Brie, so shut that computer down and forget about all of that on your desk until Monday. Come on, please? Please, come out with us?"

I smiled at her and pretended to shut down my computer. (I had actually done that at 5 pm on the dot because I didn't want to piss off my boss by making it look like I was trying to milk him for overtime.) After a count to twenty-three, I turned back to Tara and asked, "Okay, computer's off, now what?"

"Now we grab dinner and drinks. There's a place we all love to go to by the ball park and it's within walking distance of here."

"Petco?" I questioned with a smile.

"Yes, Petco. Now that we're past the trade deadline, we can the guys get their drink on without looking so intense." She was beaming as she watched me pull on my lightweight jacket. "Well... even though you all are still working on finalizing their contracts and all that is."

Since I knew that Mike had a 'no trade' clause, I hadn't really paid attention to the MLB deadline before I started this job. Sure, I knew that was one of the reasons his agent agreed to take me on so late in the season. And yes, I did sort of care if other players I followed were moving to a new city, but then again, they weren't my half-brother and I wasn't sleeping in their guest room.

"Right. So... am I dressed alright?"

Tara gave me an unimpressed look that only softened when I gave her earnest, wide-eyes. She stared at me for a second and then she chuckled and said, "You honestly... Alright, well once we get to the bar, just ditch your suit jacket. In your tank top and skirt, you'll look a lot more casual. But you'll fit in just fine either way."

I smiled as I walked to her side. "Next week I'll remember to bring a change of clothes like the rest of you do."

She hooked her right arm around my left and giggled. "Seriously Brie, I thought someone had already brought you up to speed. I'll make sure to remember to check in with our next intern more often. But really, it's your fault because you just seemed to be fitting in so well that I didn't think that I needed to do that with you."

"Really?"

"Really!" She answered as she hugged my arm. "But then again, maybe it's because you would look gorgeous in a burlap sack that got me so confused."

I stopped her before we stepped into the bar to ask her what she meant by that, but I wasn't able to get those words out. Instead we were interrupted by the four other women from the office telling us to hurry up and get inside. Apparently, the game across the street was about to finish so we had to get a table now.

Once we were settled, it didn't take me long to realize that none of the ladies from the office were actual baseball fans. That, however, didn't stop them from trying to talk about the players as if they knew more than just gossip.

"No, seriously. I heard that Ginny's agent is banging Mike Lawson, which is shy she didn't do well in her last couple of games. I'm thinking unrequited love even those the Bossman won't acknowledge it."

'Bossman' was an agent at the firm who only represented players in the Minor Leagues. And I mean that his players hadn't even broken into Double A, but he still thought he was hot shit. My boss? His top client was Mike Lawson. And that was just in baseball... in California. He represented big names of all fields of play. Did I get my job because of nepotism? Nope. I got the job before Mike called him to check that I wasn't lying about it after he had offered to let me stay with him.

"They weren't 'banging'," I heard myself say as I put my pint glass down.

The five other women I was seated with all turned their full attention towards me. At first, I thought it was the double cheeseburger I was about to bite into (What? I'd eaten nothing but salads for lunch and dinner for the last four days. My stomach was angry and kept reminding me that swimming for two hours a night before bed took a lot of energy.) But, after I put it down I realized that they were still looking at me expectantly.

Since Tara and I had spent the most time together over the past week, she asked, "What do you mean by that Brie?"

I finished the liquid in my glass to give me a chance to compose myself before answering, "It's just that... well... Mike wasn't just fucking Amelia like everyone seems to think he was... He thought that they could have had something together. She wasn't like his rebound girl and… well… not a Bang Buddy or whatever."

"Yeah… right. He's been divorce for how long?" Shailyn asked as a snotty retort.

Michelle looked between me and the other assistant before she added, "That's right! His ex is engaged to remarry some doctor. How isn't she his rebound, Rookie?"

I scowled at her answering, "Because she was the first relationship he tried to have since being married to Rachel. All of the girls before Amelia were just that, GIRLS. He never wanted, nor ever tried to have a serious relationship with any of them."

Michelle, the unspoken Queen Bee of the group, gave me a dubious look while Tara stared at me with wide eyes. Obviously, Tara was the only one who had been told that Mike Lawson's little sister would soon be joining their ranks. Not that I would ever try to use my relation to him to further his career.

Tara tried to say something, but Michelle bulldozed over her asking, "Is that right, Rookie? And how would you know that?"

I met her angry scowl with an amused smirk as I answered, "You do know that ball players use "Rook" and "Rookie" as a term of endearment, right? And how do I know all of this? It's because I live with one… a ball player that is."

"Right," four out of the five women scoffed at the same time.

Tara recovered first and she tried to ease the tension at the table saying in a placating tone, "Girls? Remember the memo we got a little while ago?"

"Memo?" I asked quietly. "Please tell me he really didn't send one."

"No, not Mike," Tara replied with a kind smile. "The BIG Bossman did. I'm sure that Mr. Lawson would have been quite upset with Mr. Cecil if he saw it."

"Fuck," I whispered with a lot of force as I claimed a new pint of beer our server had brought over to me.

Everyone at my table fell silent for a few seconds and I could only assume it was to digest the new information they had about me. Suddenly Crystal elbowed Michelle in the side. Once she had the other woman's attention, Crystal nodded towards a man who was slinking past the bar to grab a seat in a booth large enough for ten people. I had already checked the box scores of the MLB on my phone, so I could hazard a guess as to why he was looking so glum right now. But from the looks on my table mates faces I could tell that they had no idea why he might be upset at all.

"Fine… New Girl," Michelle started with a snide bite. "You're Mike"

Lawson's little sister, right? So, that must mean that you know all of the Padres. Why don't you go over there and cheer him up?

 _Cheer him up?_ I thought to myself. I almost made a snarky comment back to her, but then I suddenly realized that she had no idea who HE was beyond being a Padre. She didn't know his name or what position he played on the field. That also meant that she had no fucking clue why he was so upset right now.

I drained my drink (What? I didn't have to be at work the next day) then scooted into Tara's side. She gave me a concerned look for a second before she moved out of my way. I didn't really have a game plan, but I couldn't let Michelle win this one. I had never had to invoke the 'Mike Lawson' card to be accepted with anyone and the fact that she was basically forcing me to do it pissed me off to no end.

I didn't pause once I was out of our booth before I marched up to the bar and said, "Ellis had a rough game. Could you give me a bottle of his favorite beer or whatever he usually drinks on my tab to take over to him?"

The bartender spared a glance at the man I was referencing and replied, "Sure can. And what are you drinking tonight Brie?"

(What? Mike might be full of himself sometimes, but he still made sure to take me to a few of the Padres' favorite spots before I started my internship.)

"Whatever draft you have on special tonight, Darren. You know I'm not picky," I answered with a cheeky grin.

Darren poured my pint from a tap while someone else pulled a bottle of beer out of a cooler to bring to me. When they both arrived in front of me, I stared at the green bottle with some sort of weird cap on it.

I must have made some sort of face at the bottle unconsciously because Darren interrupted my thoughts saying with an uncomfortable chuckle, "What? Don't look at me like that Brie! That's his favorite beer, even though he hardly orders it for himself. But to make everything easier on you, both are on the house, okay?"

I smiled at him and then proposed, "The next two, right? Please? I'm trying to impress my new coworkers."

He peered over at the table I had vacated and answered, "Shit. You're trying to impress them? I'll do you one better; THEIR next round is on me if you can convince him to have a second one with you. I'll have the server say he sent it over as a 'Thank you'."

I smirked at him and picked up our drinks proclaiming, "Challenge accepted."

Now that was a cocky, Mike Lawson, comment. I so was NOT Mike Lawson. Gibby had seen to making sure that I understood that. No matter what Evelyn, Blip or Mike said, I was sure that there was something that I had done wrong or there was something wrong with me that made any eligible players find me lacking or unworthy of their time. Mike might be single and so far, he had been treating me decently, but for me he would NEVER be an 'eligible' bachelor.

"Hey… tough game," I said as I started to slide in beside the Padres' right fielder. "Beer to drown your sorrows?"

He must have only seen the pint in my right hand because his was to snap out a quick, "I don't do draft beer."

My left hand moved so fast that the bottle I was holding nearly collided with his face. His petulant tone extinguished any charity I had been feeling, so I sound just as surely as he did when I replied, "So sorry. I forgot how a third round draft pick who has been grazing in right field of Petco could develop such a refined plate. I'm drinking the 'swill', this one is for you."

He tentatively reached for the beer bottle saying, "Alright. So, you sound like you might actually be a baseball fan and not a random groupie."

Despite that comment, I slid further into the booth beside him replying, "That's because I am. I also know that you really aren't a douchey bag of dicks, so I'll let your unkind words about my choice of beer slide. And not for nothing, but 0 for 2 with two runs scored really isn't all that bad, especially when your team got the win."

"Would be better if it was 1 for 3 with a two-run home run like…"

"Blip? Really? We… did he climb the wall to steal a homer and its runs from your visiting team?"

That finally earned me a smile. "No, he didn't. Hey…? Are you ready for another round?"

I looked down at my still half-filled pint and answered, "Not yet, but I'm sure once they're done cracking open one of your fancy-pants beers and get it to us that I will be."

He let out a full bellied laugh at that comment, which turned the tides in my favor because that was how the rest of the night went between us. Tara stopped by my new booth to drop off my jacket and bag as she left for the night to go home to her family. I'm sure Michelle was upset with me because her plan had backfired. She had been so certain that I was lying about my relationship with the Padres' catcher, but even then, I had never had to use that to talk to a player. He was just a guy and I have always been able to 'guy talk' with the best of them with no problem since I started high school.

After a few hours, we had finished a couple of appetizer plates and a few more rounds of drinks. Why they finally announced, 'Last Call', I looked over at my original table because I had almost forgotten to say goodnight to the other girls. But if I was being truly honest, I was really angry with them. No one but Tara had made an effort to thank me for the drinks that had been erased from their tab after I had won my bet with Darren. But whatever. I really didn't care what they thought about me and I really didn't care if I ever earn their 'appraisal'.

After we settled our bills, with a large tip going to Darren and his staff from me, Ellis and I made our way outside.

While we both were standing in front of the entrance to the bar, I turned to him and asked, "So, Alex? Do you want to share a cab?" He stared down at me with a wide-eyed, shocked look that made me laugh out loud. "You're surprised that I know your first name? Wow! Ellis, I promise you that there are so many more fun things I know that will surprise you."


	7. We'll Be In The Dirt Designing Stars

We'll Be In The Dirt Designing Stars:

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Brie? Hey Brie? Are you awake?"

My eyes opened when I heard my name being called on the other side of my bedroom door, but I didn't become alert until I heard my door start to open.

"Brie? Are you decent?"

I heard a male voice behind me scoff out a laugh so I quickly called out (as loudly as my tired mind and body would allow), "No! No, I'm not!"

"Alright, fine. Enjoy your day off…" He started to close the door, but paused to add, "Oh! And call or text if you decide to come tonight. Dinner's on me after the game if you come."

"Okay… Thanks," I tried to answer in a strong voice. "I'll text you later."

"Sounds good. Sleep well."

His voice started to fade behind my now closed door during his last reply. I immediately groaned and moved to roll onto my back when I hit the now laughing mass behind me. Correction, the laughing, naked flesh of a man I had forgotten was laying down behind me. Me, who was now clutching to the sheets against my chest so that I wouldn't flash my half-brother in case he hadn't heard me and had fully opened the door to my room.

"Oh my God," the man behind me groaned out. "Isn't it too early to be awake?"

That made me chuckle. "All depends on who you are and what you have to get done during the day."

I had started to sit up so that I could turn around to face him while he replied, "Too many words. It's too early." He then helped me to turn my body so that I could lay down facing him with my head on my pillow again. Once I was settled, he kissed me then quietly said, "Mmm… Good morning, Pretty Lady."

I laughed against his lips before I tried to increase the space between us. I didn't have many one night stands, so I didn't want to get too familiar with him. But he didn't seem to have the same reservations because he pulled me in for another kiss. While he kept my lips occupied, he rolled me over onto my back so that he was looking down at me when he finally broke contact.

"You shouldn't be here," I suddenly warned quietly as I became more alert.

"So, I hear. You giggled about that more than a dozen times after we got back here." He started laughing at the look on my face and asked, "You don't remember?"

I placed my hands over my face so that I wouldn't have to look at him as I answered meekly, "That's the problem, I do remember. I remember all of it." I felt him kiss my chest before he moved down to a spot between my naked breasts. "Alex? How are you still here after all of that random shit I babbled out at you last night?"

He worked his lips up my bod so that he was lying down on top of me. I had expected him to stop there, but he didn't. Instead he spent some quality time swapping sleep stale, beer flavored kisses with me. I have no idea how he did it, but Alex made me feel relaxed, at ease and completely beautiful in my skin. Normally, I would never make out with a guy when my mouth felt like it had that cotton ball, dried

feeling that follows a night of drinking, but Alex managed to make even that feel sexy.

He reluctantly pulled his lips away from mine to kiss a path to my ear where he huskily whispered, "Because you're hot when you babble. It made me want to hear more. Do you remember what else you said?"

I was having a hard time concentrating when Alex's kisses turned into soft bites on my neck and then my chest. I could feel the smile that spread across his face when my back arched into his embraces, but I paid it no heed. I just paid attention to the fact that my reaction seemed to be turning him on because his biting became more aggressive when he reached the tender flesh under my breasts.

"What else did you say?" He asked with more force in his tone.

By this time, he had moved his mouth past my navel so that when he bit down again, it was on my protruding hip bone and not the more forgiving flesh of my torso. I must have hesitated too long for his liking because he bit down on the same spot on my hip bone again. This time, it was so hard that I knew there was no way that he wasn't leaving a mark there.

"What else did you say?"

His question was accompanied by him almost embedding his teeth into my skin, so I shrieked out, "You're not a stranger! I kept telling you that… that you shouldn't be here, but it was okay because you aren't a stranger."

I was rewarded with a kiss followed by a sensuous lick of the flat of his tongue across the mark he had just made. I shivered at that sensation and I'm sure that he mentally filed that into his "How to pleasure Brie" file that I was sure that had started a few hours ago.

"Do you remember what else I promised you?" He asked as he gently pried my legs open.

I knew where this line of questioning was headed, I helped him by bending my knees and pulling my ankles back. He chuckled and moved his whole body forward before he gently took each of my ankles into his hands and placed my legs over his shoulders. Now that my hands were free, I placed them on the bed so that I could lean up onto my elbows to watch him. My teeth worried my bottom lip while I watched him start to move towards his goal.

"Shitfuck," I quietly hissed out when he stopped just short of placing his lips against my flesh.

He cocked an eyebrow then asked, "And what did I say to you, Brie?"

I could feel his breath against my moistened skin while he spoke. It was driving me crazy. So crazy that I could barely think, let alone speak. Alex, the cock teasing bitch that he is, kept his eyes on my face as he blew a cold breath over my nearly throbbing sex in front of him. I let out a pain-filled groan and then a frustrated grunt before I pushed myself up and clamped my hands on the back of his head. I tried to force his face forward, but he would not be moved.

"Brie? What'd…?

My frustrated shriek as I flopped down against the mattress quieted the rest of his question. "You said you'd return the favor." I pushed myself back up onto my elbows to make eye contact with him and nearly growled out, "So, return the favor."

He was still laughing when started to kiss my nether lips. Knowing a guy was laughing while going down on me would have normally irritated me, but just like everything else he had done with me, Alex made it work. More importantly he made it work in his favor. Soon enough my body was vibrating on a sexual high and I could no longer support my own weight on my elbows. At the same time my back hit the bed, I felt Alex bite down, oh so gently, on my clit. He coupled that with two of his fingers thrusting into me. I let out a strangled groan, so he decided to switch up his tactics then.

It didn't take long for his thrusting fingers and skilled tongue to bring me to a satisfying climax. The orgasm was so intense that I'm sure that I passed out. I'm not one hundred percent sure that's true, but the next thing I knew, I was opening my eye and looking into Alex's smirking face.

He then plunged himself into me while claiming my lips in a wet, dirty kiss. I could taste myself on his lips, and again with him, I didn't mind it at all. Instead, I just wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his calves to pull him in as close as possible.

He kept his pace slow. Slower than I usually liked from my lovers. At first. I felt myself getting annoyed with him, but then he asked, "The house is empty, right? I can really make you scream now?"

He gave me a particularly hard thrust of his hips as he asked his second question and it threatened to take my breath away. Since I didn't want him to slow down or stop using this more forceful pace, I made myself answer, "Yes… YES… we're alone."

That was the answer he was looking for. He pushed himself up onto his knees and then lifted my legs so that they could wrap themselves around his waist. I watched him with an intrigued smile because this was a new angle that we had yet to experiment with overnight. He was the look on my face and replied to it with another satisfied grin.

I tried to glare at him but my eyes unconsciously went wide when I felt him lift my buttocks off the mattress. I just barely had enough time to grab onto the headboard to help him keep me in place. Once he had my body in his desired position, Alex started to piston himself in and out of my body at a bruising pace. He went hard and fast and I'm not ashamed to admit that it didn't take long before I was screaming out under the weight of my orgasm. I only say that because it wasn't long after I had started to scream that I felt his rhythm falter as he too started to climax.

I'm pretty sure I blacked out again. Seriously, I don't know what was happening to me, but I knew that I wanted to tell Alex that I wanted to be with him forever. And that I wanted him to be the only man to bring those noises out of me and to cause me to experience those incredible feelings for the rest of my life.

 _What the actual fuck, Brianna?_ I thought to myself in a voice that sounded eerily similar to Mike's annoyed tone. _You didn't cry enough after the last Padre you fucked? Tonight is just a one night stand. Do NOT make more out of this. Don't do that again._

Alex kept one eye on me as he moved around the room to discard his condom. He almost thought about putting on some clothes. But he had left me on the bed completely naked, so he thought it might be weird if I felt fabric between us as we cuddled.

I jumped slightly when I felt his chest touch my back, but I did nothing to try to get away from him when he wrapped an arm across my stomach. I could feel that he was as naked as I was, but our last round had sated him enough that it didn't feel like he'd be up for another round any time soon.

I wanted to melt into his hug, but I kept myself as still as possible when I whispered, "It's okay Ellis, you don't have to stay and cuddle."

"What?" He questioned as he tried to pull me even further into his chest.

But I wouldn't let him move me. Instead, I pried his arm off me so that I could turn over to look at him. Well not AT him because I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eye when I repeated, "I said that you don't have to stay. You repaid your debt, so you can leave guilt free, Ellis. I mean, you don't have to pretend that you want to cuddle."

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he followed my lead and sat up. "Brie, if you want me to leave, all you have to do is say the word."

"No, I don't. But if you want to go, you don't have to say anything. You can just leave without a word or… or anything else."

"Okay." His scowl deepened and he reached out a hand to grab my arm to keep me from leaving the bed. "Does this have anything to do with your conversation with your boyfriend through the door?"

"Boy…?" I sat back down on the bed and actually looked him in the eye when I continued, "EW! No… No, he is NOT my boyfriend!"

"Okay, good because I was trying to figure out why you'd bring me home with you when you already had a guy living here with you."

"No," I replied with an uneasy laugh. "I mean he does live here, but we're not like that. Didn't I tell you why I'm in San Diego for the next couple of months? I'm honestly not trying to be dense here, I just don't remember if I told you or not."

"You did tell me. Oh… shit! That was your brother! No wonder you used the whole not being decent to keep him from coming in here."

"Yeah, that's exactly it. And when I said you weren't a stranger, I didn't mean for me."

"You didn't? Well, you totally fooled me because I've never had a girl use our box score stats to hit on me."

"That's too bad. Obviously, you've been hanging out at the wrong bars."

He laughed and I almost leaned forward to kiss him. He looked so happy and genuinely amused that I wanted to abandon this topic of conversation. I mean what 's done is done, we couldn't turn back now. I felt like he deserved the truth and that thought made me more nervous. After what had happened nearly two years ago, I had promised myself that I wouldn't put myself in that position again. That was until I had been challenged, by a woman who I wasn't even sure I wanted to impress, to go talk to Alex Ellis.

Damn him for being so sweet and such a thoughtful lover. "Well… even though I know OF you, he's… my brother's the one that actually knows you."

"How?" He asked as he settled with his back against the headboard.

I move to sit by his knees but made sure that we weren't touching. He picked up my right foot and started to massage the sole as I answered, "You… uhh… you work together."

By this time, he had my right foot in both of his hands. As his thumbs pressed into the pad of my foot he asked, "Like on the field together?"

I giggled, but that was mostly from me being ticklish. "Yes, I mean on the field kind of coworkers… well teammates." I gave him a moment to mull over that information as he reached over to give my left foot the same massage treatment. He still didn't look like he had found the answer, so I questioned, "You really didn't recognize his voice?"

Alex shook his head saying, "I really didn't hear anything except him tell you to sleep well. Which reminds me, I should probably let you go back to sleep."

"No, you shouldn't," I countered. "You should keep massaging my feet. Because if you don't, I might never tell you whose house you're in right now."

He quickly picked up my right foot and redoubled his efforts on both feet. I almost fell back on the bed again, but I remained upright while I praised his work saying, "That is awesome, Alex. And I don't totally blame you for not recognizing his voice. Okay… Just imagine that instead of hearing him say something like 'sleep well' that you heard him reciting some sort of inspirational speech with him being a god among men as a focal feature."

"Speech?" He started without sounding like he was asking me a question. "The only guy I can think of that does that is Mike Lawson."

I shrugged and gestured around the room. "Thankfully he's done well for himself, so I get to stay here."

"That does seem evident. So…? Really…? You're Mike Lawson's sister?"

"Half-sister," I replied sheepishly as I tried to pull my feet out of his hold.

"Are you the one…?" He stopped to focus his attention on not letting his hold on my squirming feet to slacken when I tried again to pull away. "Alright, I'll take that as you confirming that you are… But after what I heard him say to Gibby, why would you pull me into that mess?"

 _Shit! He knows about that?_ He still wouldn't let go of my feet, so I stopped trying to fight him because I didn't want to chance hurting him.

"I didn't mean to… Remember how I kept telling you that you shouldn't be here? Well… that's why."

"Alright, I guess that does make sense. So, Brianna, how is it that I keep from having the Team Captain from coming down on me with an iron fist once he finds out I slept with his sister… err half-sister?"

"Slept with me?" I asked as tears started to force their way into my voice.

He dropped my feet so that he could pet my shins and calves. "Fine… made love to every waking hour since she and I got back to his house."

I bit he right side of my lip as I inadvertently replied in a coquettish tone, "Keep talking like that and you'll have no problems with Mike at all."

"Really?" He asked while he pulled my whole body towards him. I'm not sure how he did it, but when he next spoke I was sitting, straddling his lap. "You really think that's all it will take?"

"Yes. What happened between Gibby and I, it… I was immature and I let him get the best of me and it got ugly."

"But not anymore?

"No, not anymore," I confirmed before I finally gave into my urge to kiss him. "I can admit that I thought what happened between us was more than it really was. Hey… don't give me that look. I'm not pathetic, I was just misguided."

"Okay, I think… I mean, I've got it. So? Last night you just wanted to use me for a fun-filled night of sexual gratification and then what? You'd throw me to the wolves for slaughter?"

"What? NO! I just wanted to use…" My hand covered my mouth there because I did not mean to use that kind of terminology with him. "I didn't mean to say that. What I meant to say was that I had planned on buying you a couple of rounds on Darren's tab to dazzle the office bitch so that she would shut up about me knowing baseball players and then… Then you were supposed to call it a night and leave me there to awkwardly explain why I didn't go home with you… or invite you back here. But no! You just had to be all charming and smooth talking instead and ruin all of my plans."

"Alright, enough flattery… so I'm here, what happens now?"

I shrugged and answered, "I guess it's up to you."

"It's all up to me? Is that where all of that 'you can just go' BS has been coming from?" I nodded and made sure to stare at my lap. "Alright…"

My head shot up and I'm sure there was no way for me to hid the hurt in my eyes when I quietly asked, "Alright?"

"Yes, alright. Last night didn't go according to plan for either of us. But, I can't say that I'm upset with how things turned out."

"Really?"

"Really. Now you being Lawson's sister does sort of complicate things."

"Yeah, I know that it does," I replied as I tried to move off his lap. "That's why I won't be mad if you want to just walk away now. Y'know, before we get in too deep or whatever."

His arms hadn't moved from around my waist, which meant that I hadn't actually moved at all. Since I couldn't move away from him, I kept my eyes cast down to his waist so that I didn't have to look him in the eyes when he rejected me. At least I was fairly certain that was what he was would do. But then again, I was sitting here naked on his equally nude lap, so maybe I might be wrong.

"Another attempt to give me the brush off? I might start getting a complex, Brie." My head shot up and I'm sure there was no way for me to hid the hurt in my eyes when I quietly asked, "Alright?"

"Sorry," I answered a soft smile. I finally moved my eyes to meet his as I continued, "I just want you to know that you can back out now and I won't be upset, okay? No harm, no foul."

"Okay, I more than get that. But I don't think I'm ready to back out yet."

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not. I had a lot of fun with you, Brie," He replied as his hands moved from my waist to my buttocks. He gave each cheek a soft squeeze. "And I'm not just talking about when we got back here. I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I had that much fun just talking with someone, especially a beautiful woman, over dinner and drinks."

"I told you already, you've been hanging out at the wrong bars."

"That I have… well until last night."

My right index finger traced the shape of his lips. "Smooth Talker."

He kissed the tip of my finger and then bit it gently. I gasped in a breath at that sensation. I never knew that soft bites like that could excite me so much. Unfortunately, sitting here in his lap in nothing but my birthday suit made it hard for me to hide from Alex that it was working for me too.

He must have felt it too because Alex bit my finger a little bit harder before he lifted me up and flipped me onto my back. He was quick to blanket my body with his even before I stopped bouncing. I expected him to kiss me, but he seemed to be frozen in a n uncomfortable looking modified pushup over my body.

I tried to turn my head to get a look at whatever had caught his attention, but I couldn't get my neck to stretch that way. Thankfully, he didn't prolong the awkward silence before Alex asked, "Is that the right time?"

I still couldn't move to look at it, so I answered, "The clock on the iPod dock? Yeah, it is. Why?"

"Shit," he whispered before he rolled off my body. He sat on the bed for a second to compose himself, but it didn't look like he was going to say anything else to me.

"Alex?" I called out in a painfully small voice.

He didn't stop as he sifted through a huge pile of our mixed clothing. I figured that meant that he wasn't going to answer me, but again he surprised me.

"I am really sorry Brie, but I'm supposed to be meeting the hitting coach for some early work before I hit the gym. Since I requested it and not the other way around, I think it would be really bad if I'm late."

"You're right, it would be," I agreed, passing him his t-shirt. He looked surprised, so I shrugged and explained, "You tried to impress me by sling-shotting it across the room. Remember?"

"No, no I don't," he confessed with a chuckle.

After he reclaimed his shirt, he started to get dressed. I had become a little self-conscious in my nakedness, so I hurried over to my closet to find something to wear. My go-to in situations like this was an over-sized flannel shirt that I had bought years ago to lounge in while I was studying. Most people assumed I had inherited from an ex-boyfriend and I did nothing to correct their assumption.

Once I had it on, I turned to talk to Alex and ran face first into his chest. We shared an uncomfortable laugh as we both took a small step back. He brushed my hair off my face and tucked it behind my ears so that it was easier for him to kiss me. And it was a good, deep kiss.

"I'm not running away. I really do need to get to the park."

"I know," I said even though I had a lump forming in my throat.

"Hey, I mean it. This isn't me backing out on you. Hey… Why don't we meet for dinner after the game so that we can talk?" My cheeks turned bright pink then. "Unless you're embarrassed to be seen with me in public."

"No, it isn't that. Mike offered to buy me dinner if I went to the game. I was thinking about going just so that he and I could have some time together because… and I know this will sound really lame, but I swear to God it's the truth… but since I started work we haven't seen each other much and I think he might want to talk about… uhh… stuff."

"That doesn't sound lame. It's sweet." He bent down to kiss me again. I went up on my tip-toes to chase his lips to prolong the kiss for as long as I could. He was still laughing at that when he asked, "How 'bout we meet for breakfast or brunch tomorrow?"

"Brunch? You're really the kind of guy who does brunch?" I joke against his lips that were still hovering over mine.

"Not usually, but to spend time with you, I'm will to give it a try."

I stepped back before he could attempt to kiss me again. This thing between us had gotten very real, very fast. I dropped all of the previous teasing and humor out of my tone as I earnestly asked him, "So this…? Us? You really want to give it a try?"

"Yes. Don't you?

"I… Yes, I do, but…"

He pulled me into a hug saying, "No buts. Meet me for brunch and then we'll go from there, okay?"

I squeezed my arms around his waist answering into his chest, "Okay."

"And as for Mike…"

I pushed out of his embrace so that I could place my hands over his mouth.

"Once we know what this thing between us is, I'll figure out a way to tell him."

His mouth moved against my palm, so I moved them away to let him talk again. He smiled and said, "That sounds good to me."


	8. And Darling You Know

And Darling You Know:

Alex and I either saw each other or talked on the phone every day from that day forward. After a couple of weeks, I sat Mike down and told him about us. I was sure that he was going to go through the roof, but he absolutely surprised me. Instead of the expected over reaction, he just asked if I was sure that I was happy and if I knew what I was doing with the right fielder.

"Yes Mike, I am… I'm very happy. But as for me knowing what I'm doing? No, I'm not sure that I do."

Mike let out a chuckle as he reached over the island to take my hand in his. "Don't worry Brie, I won't hold that against you."

"Good to hear."

We shared a smile and everything about my love life seemed to be settled between us.

"Alright, so why don't you give me a ride to the park so that you can say goodbye to your boy…" He paused there when I gave him a hard look because I hadn't used that word with him. "Your… Boy Toy?"

"Mike!" I retorted and slapped his arm. I tried not to let him hear my amusement, but that was hard.

He countered with a playful glare that coerced a laugh out of me. "Fine, your boyfriend. And if you don't play kissy face with him for too long, you'll be able to still get to work on time."

That earned him a shove from me. "Don't be gross, Mike."

"What? I'm being completely serious. Now come on, you driving me or am I leaving my car at the ball park again?"

He stood up and picked up his backpack. I stared at him while I mentally did a quick 'Pro/Con' list. On the one hand, it would be at least five days before I got to see Alex again. Of course, we would talk every night, thank God there was no time zone interference this road trip. But on the other hand, maybe Mike wasn't as cool with my new relationship as he was pretending to be. Maybe I didn't want him to see Alex and me together just yet.

Mike whistled at me to get my attention and then said, "Seriously Brie, I don't want to be late to the team bus. So, are you driving or am I?"

I walked over to him and moved as if I was going to give him a hug, but instead I just took his keys out of his hand and answered, "Sure, I'll drive you Miss Daisy."

He chuckled as he watched me continue down the hall. He looked down at his feet and called out, "Hey! What about my bags?"

"I said I'd be your chauffeur, not your bell boy!"

I almost stopped and turned around, but it was the first time I had won a war of wits with him, so I kept walking so I could revel in it. Since we were technically still getting to know each other, every so often I had moments when I worried I would overstep with him and that a wall would go up between us. But so far it seemed like his sense of humor was as twisted as mine (or vice versa) and so far, that had helped to bring us closer together.

As we made our final approach to Petco Stadium, Mike turned in the passenger seat and said to the side of my face, "Make sure you don't stay up too late while I'm gone. And no parties, young lady."

I laughed without turning to look at him. His response to that was to clear his throat purposefully. My eyes flicked from the road to his face, but my glance was too quick for me to decipher the expression on his face.

"You're kidding me, right?" I questioned in a semi-humorous tone. "You aren't the only one who has to work over the next five days, so that's pretty much all I'll be doing. Plus, let's not forget that Alex is going on the road with you, so there's no point in having any parties."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

He sounded so smug that I wanted to slug him right then and there. Lucky for him I was more concerned with not getting into an accident, so I held back. He must have known what I wanted to do because he was out the door the second that I had his vehicle stopped. I almost forgot to put it into park in my haste to catch up with him. By the time I was out of the driver's seat, Mike was pulling out his bags from the trunk, I felt my jaw tighten when I heard him chuckling to himself. He thought he was SO funny. He thought he was…

"Brie?"

Alex's voice took me out of my thoughts and I immediately turned towards the direction it had come from as soon as I saw Alex at the back of his SUV, all I could think was _Mike who_? I also felt myself relax and I wasn't even consciously aware that I had started to walk towards him until I heard him huff out a laugh.

"So, I take it that he's not going to have me murdered and my corpse dumped in the San Francisco Bay?" Alex asked as he gestured to Mike with his chin.

I spared a glance over my shoulder at my brother before I shook my head and replied, "If he does, that's all on you." I chuckled at the look on his face and took another step closer to him adding, "But I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't try to sit you down and have 'the talk' with you. Sorry."

"Hey, if that's all he wants to do, I'm up for it."

I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes. "You really are too good to be true, aren't you? So, what is your malfunction Mr. Ellis?"

He laughed then answered, "Before I met you, it was that I was doomed to be an eternal bachelor."

"Smooth Talker," I replied as I stepped into his personal space. "Good answer."

He started to lean down as I went up on my tiptoes, but we were interrupted before we could kiss by Mike bellowing out, "Ellis! Bus is almost ready to leave. Hurry up!"

We both took a large step away from each other. I could feel my cheeks heating up, so I stared at my fingers that were playing with Mike's key ring when I quietly said, "Just remember, I've apologized for him already and I've promised to make it up to you when you get back."

He bent down to place a quick kiss on my head and replied, "I think I can handle him being in overprotective brother mode."

"Plus, he'll probably be focusing most of his wrath on Duarte right now."

"True. Alright, I really must go. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay. And I need to get to work, so I should get my ass moving too."'

We walked back to Mike's car together (because it was on his way to the bus) and said another quick goodbye. He knew that I understood his need to get to the bus, so there was no drama when he just squeezed my hand before continuing his path to the team bus.

Once I was back in the driver's seat of Mike's car, I did take a moment to send out two texts. The first was to Alex saying, 'Kick some ass on the road. Don't overthink you're at bats. *kissing face emoji*'

'Thanks, I'll try. 3' Was his reply.

My goofy smile faded almost instantly as I typed two simple words to Mike, 'BE NICE!'

'I'm always nice *winking face emoji*'

'I mean it Mike! He's nervous enough bc he thinks his avg takes a nosedive vs San Fran.'

'Is that so? Maybe his team Cpt should give him a pep talk.'

'MIKE! DON'T! Please?! Please, just let him be. I've sent him a ton of stats to show him he's wrong. Please? I…"

I almost typed out 'I love him' with another plea for Mike not to be a dick, but I couldn't get that out. He must have noticed that I had stopped typing because I received an all caps response of, 'BRIE! YOU WHAT?! BRIE?!'

'I really like him and… this are good. Please don't fuck it up.'

'Fine. I'll be nice… ish.'

I rolled my eyes then replied, 'That's the best I'll get. Keep your head down and eyes open at first there Morneau.'

'*eye rolling emoji* You still expect me to be nice?'

Mike looked up from his phone to see their right fielder making his way down the aisle. His phone kept chiming but he ignored those notifications to call out, "Ellis! I have a free seat here."

Alex watched as Mike patted the empty seat beside him. Ever since Ginny had joined the team, she usually sat beside the catcher, so why wasn't she there now? Scratch that, he knew why. He should have seen this coming, so he just swallowed down his fear and moved to sit beside his team captain.

As soon as he started to take his seat, Alex overheard the incessant dinging coming from Mike's phone. He nodded towards Mike's hands asking, "Something you need to take care of?"

Mike illuminated his screen, but ignored my messages saying, 'MIKE!' 'I wasn't insulting you!' 'MIKE! MIKE!' 'I told you it's a COMPLIMENT! Please answer me!' 'MIKE PLEASE! Please DON'T!' 'He was a MVP!' 'Mike…' 'Please?!' 'Come on…'

After my tenth message went unanswered, I decided to switch gears and sent an 'I'M SO SORRY!' to Alex.

When he heard his own phone chime, Alex illuminated it and chuckled at my apology.

Mike raised an eyebrow then asked, "Anything you need to take care of?"

"Nope," Alex replied with a laugh as he slipped his phone into the inner chest pocket of his suite jacket. "Just got my suspicions about who was trying to get your attention confirmed."

"And you don't have to send her a reply right away?"

"Usually I do, but she'll understand when I call to explain everything later. Plus…"

Alex paused there intentionally to get Mike's goat and his teammate fed right into his play by asking, "Plus what?"

"Oh, sorry… Plus, I don't want to distract her while she's driving, especially since she isn't driving her own car today."

"Huh. That's true."

"Look Mike, I would have told you about us sooner, but Brie told me she wanted to do it herself."

"She told me that."

"Oh. Okay. So…?"

"So, I've heard her side of things and where her head's at and I wanted to check in with you. She's told me why she hit on you, but I want to hear why you hit on my baby sister."

"Well, I can't honestly say that I ever hit on her. I just followed her lead." Mike gave him a sideways glance, as if to say that he didn't believe what he was hearing. Alex nearly threw his hands up in surrender, as he continued, "I'm being serious man. What would you do if the hottest chick in the bar shows up at your side with your favorite beer and starts using the stats from your last game to hit on you? I mean she… she's something special so… like I said, I just follow her lead."

Mike was glad that his beard was hiding the grin on his face because he didn't want his teammate to see how pleased he was to hear him speak that way about Brianna.

"Good to hear. And seriously, you can call her if you want to Ellis."

Mike pulled out his head phones, but pause before putting them on when he saw Alex look at his watch and shake his head. "She'll still be driving and then she'll want to start her day right away. I'll call her when we land because she should be on her lunch break and we'll actually be able to talk and not feel rushed."

This time Mike couldn't quite his surprise which made Alex laugh as he explained, "She and I discussed our schedules because she doesn't want to bother me during my workouts or warm ups. I know how much this internship means to her, so I don't want to distract her at work, so we set down some ground rules."

"Impressive," Mike mumbled as he placed his headphones over his ears.

Alex smiled to himself and tried not to look too obvious when he watched Mike pull out his phone to type out a message.

I was just pulling my briefcase and duffle bag out of the backseat when I heard his ringtone. _Fucking finally!_ I thought to myself as I pulled out my phone to read his text. All there was on my scree was a 'thumbs up' symbol, so I let out a sigh of relief.

'Give them hell in the Bay City Mike.'


	9. You Make Me Feel So Beautiful

You Make Me Feel So Beautiful:

"How's he holding up?"

"Couldn't tell you. He went to the bar with Blip and I came back to my room to Skype you."

My cheeks turned pink, so I turned away from the camera on my laptop's screen.

Alex was chuckling softly at my embarrassment while he said, "My God you are cute."

"Shuddup. This is why I wanted to just talk on the phone. I hate how easily I blush."

"I love it," he replied with such ease that I just stared at him for a second. "What? It's cute and it makes you even more beautiful."

I traced his lips on my screen saying, "Smooth Talker."

"Only because it's true."

I could feel my blush returning with a vengeance, but I tried my best to ignore it. "Would it be weird if I said that I miss you?"

"Not at all. I was thinking the same thing."

"Good. And I'm thinking we should do a sleepover before your next road trip. Six days without touching you is not acceptable."

"I like the way you think, Miss Grissom."

While he was still waggling his eyebrows, I noticed his room's door open behind him. He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to the screen saying, "Looks like my roommate's back."

"Looks like," I replied dejectedly. "Plus, I should be heading to bed too. Bossman wants me to come in early tomorrow."

"Everything okay?"

I smiled at the concerned look on his face. "Everything's fine. He just wants to go over some contracts with me before everyone gets in. Less distractions."

"Ah. That makes sense."

"Yeah… Okay, I'm really going now. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Alright, sounds good."

Neither of us made a move to shut down our screens. I opened my mouth to make a comment, but I was interrupted by his roommate clearing his throat. Alex spared a glance over his shoulder at the Padres' left fielder behind him. At that point, I said a quick goodnight and slammed my laptop shut.

Although it sucked being caught out like that, it made for a good excuse just to talk on the phone the next night.

"I seriously thought the game was lost when that line drive was hit at Mike."

Alex chuckled then said, "You aren't the only one. So, how did your day go?"

"I thought the trade dead-line would be the most stressful time here, but no, I was wrong. Once the teams deice to trade you guys, it takes a lot of time to perfect the contracts and now… fucking waivers and post season deadlines… it's insane."

"Yeah, I can imagine. So? Did you work on anything interesting today?"

Suddenly I really wished that I could see his face, but he was still at the park. That meant that even if I had okayed it, we wouldn't be Skyping. But there was something about the strained tone he was using that made me want to see his face.

"Everything's new and interesting. What's up with you Alex?"

I could hear him take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now, I was getting nervous. I was about to ask him what Mike had said or done to him when he finally answered, "You've heard about the bullshit happening to Ginny, right?"

"Yeah. A couple of the girls at work were talking about it. Amelia called me to ask about any lawyers I know or know of that might be able to help."

"You and Amelia still talk?"

"Well… yeah. She's still willing to give me pointers about my career goals, so I listen."

"Wow. Okay… And Mike's cool with that?"

I could tell that he was deliberately avoiding answering my question, so I tried to get him back on track saying, "Enough about me and back to you Mr. Ellis."

"Oh… right… So, Ginny came up with a plan. She told Amelia, Amelia ran it past Mike and he's asked some of us to help."

"Alright. I mean that sounds good. But why are you being all dodgy about it?"

"Right… okay… here it is. You've heard of ESPN's 'Body Issue', right?"

"I buy one every year. But I swear, I just read the articles."

That earned me a genuine laugh from Alex before he said, "Well, Ginny thought was… if they and every position represented that it would take some of the spot light off of her… and since I'm the Padres' right fielder…"

"I get a tasteful nude photo of you to keep me company while you're on the road?" I jumped in, not even attempting to hid the excitement in my voice.

Alex laughed again and sounded much more at ease when he replied, "God I love that about you. I don't know why I was so nervous about tell you about this."

"Oh, you weren't nervous about tell me. You're just weirded out about seeing my girlfriend's brother naked."

"Except that I've already seen that. We share a locker and shower room, remember?"

"Eww… Right. Then let's go with you forgetting that I'm not like most girls."

"Yeah, that's better. Well… I should get going…"

"Oh! Of course! I don't want to delay that at all! Have fun!"

That night I had some very lovely dreams about Alex and how his photo shoot would turn out. That kept a smile on my face up until that story broke on ESPN. The day after that, when I got to the office there were some printouts of the pictures on my desk waiting for me.

I barely had a chance to look at them when I heard Michelle's snide voice saying, "Since you know all of the players so well, we figured you'd be able to get those signed for us."

I looked down at the pile of photos to force myself to calm down before I answered her. That brought me face first with a naked photo of the Padres' starting catcher. I frown at it and quickly flipped it over as I finally replied, "You do know that most of the guys have agents that work out of this office, right? I'm sure they can get autographs for you just as easily."

"Oh, that would be kind of tacky, don't you think?"

I turned to face her, which turned out to be a big mistake because it took all my willpower not to smack the smug look she was wearing off her face. I did make sure to show my distaste for her proposition on my face and in my tone as I stated, "Right… Because me asking my brother and boyfriend to sign naked photos of themselves, THAT'S totally normal."

"Well, if you can't do it…" She smirked and then moved to pick up her pictures.

I opened my mouth to issue my own snotty retort, but I was interrupted by a stern voice calling out, "Brianna! Thank goodness, you're in early. We're having a pow wow about this waivers situation… I'd really love to hear your insights on it."

I turned to face my boss, Mike's agent, who was standing in the doorway of his office. "Sure thing Mr. Cecil, I'll be right in."

He smiled at me and then turned to address Michelle. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the frown she had put on his face as he said to her, "I'm pretty sure Bob will need those numbers sooner than later."

Her cheeks turned a bright pink as she mumbled, "Of course. I was just…"

She scurried away without finishing that thought. Mr. Cecil's smile returned when he turned back to me and opened his door wider asking, "Shall we?"

I hurried into his office and took a seat beside one of the two other agents who were already seated inside. I had been lucky enough to be invited out to lunch with Mr. Cecil and some of the other agents a few times over the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, I must have sounded as smart as I hoped I was because now some of them would stop by my desk to ask my opinion on a few topics. And now I was being invited to a closed-door meeting with them. I'm pretty sure that my becoming the go-to person for advice was a bigger reason for Michelle's jealousy and her more aggressive attempts to belittle me lately.

But she wasn't going to steal my smile from me. I had three sports agents staring at me, waiting for my answers to their questions. That had me on such a high that I brushed Tara's invite for drinks at the end of the day (Hey! I was polite and she understood) so that I could hurry home to call Alex. I caught him just before he was headed out for batting practice, so we had to keep our conversation short. He let me yammer on about the meeting without any interruptions and I could just kiss him for that.

"Brie, that's awesome."

"Right? Okay. I'll let you go. Have a good game. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow."


	10. Nowhere Else In The World I Want To Be

Nowhere Else In The World I Want To Be:

Even after sleeping on it, I still couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was plastered across my face as I got out of Mike's vehicle to make my way towards the team bus and I was sure that I was going to get some weird looks from the other women picking up their men. But it disappeared quickly and my feet came to a complete stop when I heard Mike call out, "Oh! And there's Brie!"

He didn't sound remotely happy to see me as he hurried towards where I was standing. I wasn't sure what was going on and hearing Ginny call out, "Call me if you change your mind" did nothing to help me figure out what Mike had just pulled me into.

Mike moved past me without a word and threw his backpack into the back seat. I was waving at Alex but I missed what he was trying to say to me because Mike yelled at the same time, "I can drive myself I you want to go home with Lover Boy."

I turned to Mike and took half a step back when I saw the look on his face. "No, I promised to drive you so you can rest. I'll… uhh… I'll catch up with him later."

"Alright. Then, let's go."

He dumped his weight into the passenger's seat, so I quickly found Alex's eye again. He gave me an exaggerated shrug, so I held my hand up to my ear to tell him that I'd call him later. Thank God, he gave me a 'thumbs up' sign and looked like he was totally fine with me leaving now and not welcoming him home properly.

When I got into the driver's seat, Mike had already started the car, so I just put it into reverse and pulled out of the spot. I tried more than once to ask him about the road trip, but all I got were clipped, snappish, one word answered, so I stopped trying to engage him in conversation. If he wanted to ride home in a tense silence, then I would be more than happy to oblige. Well, not happy, but I was stubborn enough to give him his wish this once.

As we approached his house, I moved my hand to hit his garage door opener above my head, but Mike grabbed my hand to stop me mid-motion. After I parked in the driveway, I looked over at him and quietly asked, "Mike?"

"Sorry Brie. But… there's something I need to do." I opened my mouth to off to drive him, but he held his hand up to silence me. "Sorry, but this is a solo mission. And I can't tell you about it right now either."

"Okay. Umm… do you know how long you'll be? I was thinking of cooking my specialty for you tonight since you don't have to be at the park until tomorrow afternoon."

"Honestly? I don't know. If everything goes according to plan, I might be late."

I smiled at that and replied, "That's okay. My lasagna is so awesome that it tastes just as good as left-overs."

We both got out of the car then. Once Mike reached where I was standing he gave me a side-hug and said into my hair, "Thanks for understanding Lil Sis."

After he let me go, I gently punched his upper arm and replied, "Anytime, Bro."

I waved at him as he pulled out of the driveway and tried to look as easy-going as possible. Something weird was happening with Mike Lawson, but I had no idea what it might be. He was smiling as he waved one final time, so I tried to take that as a good sign.

Even before I got inside, I had pulled out my phone and was dialing Alex's number.

"Hey Beautiful. So, what's going on with you and your brother?"

"That's a good question. Did you notice anything strange that happened with him in Denver?"

"Can't say that I did. But, then again, he and I really don't hang out or anything. The conversation we had about you on the bus to the airport is the longest one we've ever had since I joined the team. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Things just feel… weird."

"How so?"

"Ow… FUCK!"

"Brie! Are you okay?"

"Shit! Hold on a sec!" I found a phone dock and turned on the speaker phone function so that I could apologize saying, "Sorry. I need both of my hands to make dinner without maiming myself."

"Dinner? What are you making me?"

"Well… I was planning on bringing you some left-over lasagna tomorrow."

"Left-overs? Ouch."

"Sorry, Babe. I had hoped to invite you over tonight for dinner with Mike, but now I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Right… I get that… So, back to what you said before. You said things were weird with Mike?"

"Yeah. He barely said two words to me on the drive home, even though I tried to get him to tell me about the road trip. But, once we got here he tells me he has something to do, alone. Fine, okay… Whatever. Then he hugs me and thanks me for being so understanding and calls me 'Lil Sis' before he leaves again."

"Okay?"

I chuckled softly because I knew that wouldn't make sense to anyone but me. "He's never called me that. 'Brie' is the only nickname he's ever used for me. I've jokingly called him 'Big Bro' from time to time, but neither name is the norm for us to use. I don't really know how to describe it, but it just… I don't know… I just felt off."

"I'm sorry, Brie." I smiled at the sound of his sincere apology. "I wish I could say something more helpful than that."

"You don't have to apologize, Alex. But, thanks for listening to me ramble on about it."

"That's what boyfriends' are for."

I snorted in a laugh then retorted, "I guess that's why none of the other ones lasted. They must not have gotten that memo."

"Lucky for me."

I smiled a bit wider. "Speaking of… My phone almost exploded after those photos came out. All of my friends from school are trying to work in a trip to San Diego before the season's over."

"Oh yeah? How many friends?"

"Hey now!" I cautioned in a warning tone.

"What?" He owned the innocent, 'I didn't mean it that way', tone of voice. "I just want to make sure I know how many guys I'll have to ask to help get all of them free tickets when they do make it to town."

"Uh huh… Right…"

"Right! So…? How was the reaction at your work?"

"I know a few of the agents were getting so many calls for endorsement deals that their assistants could barely keep up with them all."

"Really?"

"Yep. Oh…! And if you're looking for new representation, I know an agent who's been asking a lot of questions about you."

"Shut the fuck up! No way! He totally blew me off when I got drafted."

"Well… you added more than one hundred points to your batting average while you were on the road… Plus… some of those companies calling about endorsements might have been asking about you too and if he could help them reach you. And… let's not mention that your very own personal cheerleader is his right-hand woman right now."

"Brie, you can't be serious."

"As a heart attack."

"Seriously? I mean, I'm more than happy with my agent, but I'm speechless right now. Are you sure I can't come over to see you tonight?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But I'll come over early tomorrow so that you can show me your appreciation before you have to go to work."

He let out a low groan before he said in a husky voice, "Damn… why do we have to have a game tomorrow?

"MLB scheduling… It's a heartless bitch."

"Fuck Brie. Promise me that our next day off at home, I get to have you all to myself. Promise me."

I stared at my phone for a second before I said (and no, I'm not proud of how unsure I sounded right then), "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Yes, Brie, I do. How do you know how amazing you are?"

"Well," I started slowly until I heard the door to Mike's garage start to open. "We'll have to talk about that another time. Big Bro is home, so let's double back to more appropriate topics of conversation."

"Like you and your coworkers ogling naked photos of me and my teammates at your desks?"

I started giggling and answered, "Yeah, that's it exactly! Oh! Hey Bro! How was the solo mission?"

Mike just scoffed at my playful question and shook his head to himself as he continued through the kitchen. I watched him in silence as he made his way towards his games room on the other side of the pool. It seemed more than painfully obvious that things hadn't gone according to his plans. Not that I had the remotest idea about what that plan could have been.

"BRIE?"

I shook my head and felt my cheeks turn hot. "Sorry. I spaced out on you, didn't I?"

"I'm honestly not as worried about that as I am about why it happened."

"Fuck, you are too good to be true," I turned my head to look out across the pool to try to see Mike. I sniffled in a breath then answered, "He wouldn't even look at me. I… I just… I wish that talking to him was as easy as it is to talk with you. I seriously have no idea what's going on with him or why he's so pissed off right now."

"Well… there's that waivers rumor."

"Yeah… maybe. Look, I should finish up dinner. I'll…"

"Don't worry about the time. Call me whenever you need to talk, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks."

I hung up the phone and turned my full attention to preparing our food. As much as I hated to admit it, I may have cast over a hundred glances to the room across the pool to try to watch Mike. From what I could see he was sitting in a chair staring out the window.

 _What's going on with you Mike?_ I thought to myself as I finally placed the lasagna into the pre-heated oven. Normally when I was waiting for my pasta dish to bake I would find something to do to occupy the time. Today, however, I just sat at the island with my chin in my hand staring at the oven. My mind was working on over-time and my thoughts only paused when the buzzer for the timer went off.

I pulled the lasagna out and had it on the island to cut into individual portions when I heard the sound of footsteps. My hand paused mid-motion when I looked up and saw Mike walking into the kitchen.

"I hope you're hungry because this…"

"Brianna?" He questioned over the rest of my words.

 _SHIT!_ I thought when I heard him use my full name. I swallowed hard then asked, "Yes, Mike?"

He shook his head then answered, "This isn't going to work."

"Oh! Sorry… your diet! I can make something…"

"NO! Brianna THIS isn't going to work. Me… you… living here, it's…"

I dropped the knife and barely heard it crash to the floor. "What…? What do you mean? This…This was your idea!"

"I know and I was wrong. I have a lot going on and I should have known that I couldn't handle having a guest live with me during the season."

"'A guest'?" I swallowed back the sob that wanted to escape with those words. "Mike, I don't understand what you're trying to get at right now."

He let out a low growl and then turned back to face me as he bellowed out, "I'm saying that I shouldn't have invited you to stay here! You're a stranger! And I need my space! I can't have that if you're here under my feet everywhere I turn!"

My bottom lip started to tremble, so I bit it and just remained silent. He didn't seem to notice my reaction at all because he turned around to look at his yard as he continued with an angry, "This is my house… MY sanctuary and you being here… it…"

"Doesn't work," I finished for him in a tone too calm to be accompanying the tears now spilling down my cheeks. "I… I get it. You don't…"

I didn't finish that thought and just ran out of the room. He didn't want me to stay with him? Fine! I'd find somewhere else to stay or… Or I'd just quit the internship and run home with my tail between my legs. Yeah, my parents would LOVE that. So, maybe not home. Scarlett had been begging me to visit her now that she had her studio set up in LA. She wouldn't make me feel like shit for running to her so I could lick my wounds.

But whatever I decided, I had to pack first. That feat definitely wasn't made any easier with my now unending tears. Normally, I would have tried to calm myself down before I continued on, but I was in a bit of a time crunch today. Mike didn't want me here? Fine. I'd be gone before he knew it.

If you asked me, I had everything in my suitcases in record time, but I'd be lying. I was pretty sure that I had left some things behind, but they probably weren't anything that couldn't easily be replaced at a later date. You know, once I figured out what the hell I was going to do before Christmas break and my last semester at school started. I had planned on staying at Mr. Cecil's agency until January classes stated, but now I was thinking that it might be best if I just headed back to school sooner than that to discuss my options with my academic advisor.

By the time I had everything together my tears had finally subsided. Now my anger had taken over, so I had a few choice words for my so-called brother. Lucky for him, he was nowhere to be seen when I carried my luggage down to my car. Normally, I would have made two trips, but my adrenaline was pumping so vigorously that I managed to heft all of my bags and suitcases down to my car in one go.

Now, the rumor that has gone around that I intentionally scratched his car while I packed mine is a total lie. My passenger door hit the side of his car when I angrily threw it open to toss my bags onto the backseat. I honestly didn't know our vehicles were parked close enough for that to happen. Now, if you asked me if I smiled when I saw the large dent and scratch on his immaculate black paint? Well, that would be a different story.

Once my car was packed, I drove away from Lawson's house while I willed myself not to start crying again. I had no idea where I was going, so I mindlessly drove around San Diego. But, that was stupid and a waste of gas. Gas that cost money that I wasn't making right now, so I found somewhere to park while I tried to collect my thoughts and regroup.


	11. Whether I'm Up Or Down There's No Crowd

Whether I'm Up Or Down There's No Crowd To Please:

My first call was to my friend Scar to check if I might be welcomed to stay with her. For whatever reason, she didn't answer, so I left her a long-winded message. A message that was so long that I was interrupted by someone knocking on my passenger door window.

As I ended my call, I hit the button to lower the window. I just stared out my windshield, so I didn't see Alex squatting down so that he could look through the window to call out to me, "Brie? I thought you were having a sibling night at…"

Before he could say 'Mike's place', I let out a loud wail and started to sob into my hands that were holding my steering wheel. He quickly unlocked and opened the door to slip into the passenger's seat so that he could pull me into a hug. I tried to resist him at first, but I quickly realized that I had no fight left in me tonight. Instead, I buried my face into his chest and just cried for I don't even know how long. Alex simply stroked my hair and the back of my neck while he quietly reassured me that everything would be alright. God bless him, he had no idea what had me so upset, but he was more than willing to offer up his support and comfort all the same.

My thoughts on how unfair this situation was to him helped me to calm my tears. I kept my cheek against his chest and I could tell from the way his body tensed up that he had noticed all of my luggage in the backseat.

"Are you going on a trip Brie?" I shook my head against his chest but made no move to look at him. "Oh… okay. So, are you heading home early?"

Again, I shook my head, but this time I whispered, "If I want to keep my internship this IS my home."

"What?" He asked as he pushed me back so that he could look at my face. My cheeks were still soaked with my tears, so he pressed his palms against them to try to dry them off. "Brie? I'm sorry Baby, but I'm so beyond confused. Can you catch me up, please?"

I stared up into his beautiful, earnest face and ignored the new tears falling from my eyes as I replied, "He kicked me out."

Alex's eyes went wide and his neck turned red but he swallowed his anger before asking, "Why?"

I shrugged as I honestly replied through my tears, "I don't know. Whatever his super-secret mission was today must have tipped the scales… not in my favor. He gave me a few bullshit lines about… well… bullshit and then I left. I'm sorry Alex, I really didn't mean to drive here."

"It's okay. Actually, I'm glad that you did. Now come on, let's get your bags up to my suite."

I grabbed both of his hands to keep him from leaving the car and frantically shoot my head saying, "Alex, no! It's… it's too early in our… we can't live together."

"Says who?" He countered with a warm smile. "Fine. Be stubborn. Just spend the night so that you can regroup and figure out something more long-term tomorrow, okay?"

I gave that proposal a moment of thought before I answered, "Just tonight? I'm not moving in, I'm just stay the night? Yeah, that could work."

He smiled from ear to ear. "Good. Now let's get…"

"You were going somewhere," I interrupted. His cheeks turned pink causing me to groan. "Shit, Alex. I'm sorry. Go and do whatever you were heading out to do before I had my melt down."

"Brie," he replied warmly. "I was just heading down the street to pick up the pizzas I ordered to go along with the keg of beer I have to drown my sorrows."

"Drown you sorrows?" I questioned with a suspicious glare.

He nodded and kept his tone completely dead pan as he answered, "Yeah. You see my girlfriend told me she couldn't see me until tomorrow and my right hand rejected me too. He told me that five days and nights together were more than he could handle, so… beer and pizza."

I groaned then chuckled softly. "Alex, don't be gross."

"What? That's the truth!"

I shook my head still laughing, "Alex, come on!"

"Okay. In all honesty, it's two pizzas and I was going to buy a six pack on the way." I glared at him causing him to raise his hands up and add, "What? I eat my feelings."

I rubbed my fists against my eyes to make sure no more tears would fall and then looked him square in the eye to ask, "So, you're serious? I can stay with you until I find somewhere more permanent?"

"Absolutely. I'm as serious as you are beautiful."

"Alex," I tried to counter in a stern voice. He gave me a playful glare in return. I then traced his lips with my index finger and sighed out, "Smooth Talker."

He started to chuckle, but I swallowed that noise with a kiss. I made it as deep as I possibly could given our limited mobility inside my car. He just wrapped his arms around me and let me control our pace.

Once I was feeling calmer and more reassured, I held his cheek and said, "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Good thing you don't need to find out." He stroked my cheeks with his thumbs then nearly whispered, "Why don't we get your bags upstairs?"

"No," I quickly replied as I pushed back on his chest. His smile wilted so I added, "It's just that you have pizza waiting for you and I don't want to delay you any more than I already have, so I'll take them up."

"Fine, use your logic on me."

I smiled at how easily he gave in. I passed him my keys then offered, "Why don't you take my car? It'll make your trip faster."

He replied by passing me a set of keys (my key ring already had a set of his keys on it so I could meet him at his place after work). "Just take half of the bags up, I'll grab my dinner and then I'll park your silver stallion in the visitor's parkade where it belongs."

"Silver stallion?" I questioned with a laugh.

He shrugged replying, "You drive a mustang, it felt right."

"You are such a dork." I leaned forward then and kissed him. He didn't look like he wanted to make a joke back when I released his lips, so I very earnestly said, "Thank you for this Alex. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I can hazard a guess." He gave me a soft smile and pet my cheek with the back of his fingers. "Why don't we get you settled upstairs?"

I pecked his lips again before I opened my door and said, "You better go get those pizzas before they get cold, I'm starving."

Alex watched as I got out of the car and kept my door open so that I could pull out a couple of my bags. He knew that I had been cooking before Mike got home, so he had to swallow back an angry growl at hearing that I had yet to eat. He knew that the atmosphere in the clubhouse had been weird since Livan Duarte had been called up, but he had thought it was because the new catcher was acting like a self-entitled douchebag. He never would have guessed that it could have been because of his team captain or that it would spill over into his domestic life or that it would affect Brie so much.

He opened his door while I was standing on the sidewalk with a confused scowl on my face. When he saw the reaction, he quickly pulled me in for a kiss.

"You know the way, right?" He whispered against my lips. I nodded, so he kissed me again then promised, "I won't be long."

"I'll be here… well upstairs, but… y'know…" I replied awkwardly.

"I know," he answered with a smile. "I really won't be long, Brie."

I gave him a quick nod and then stepped away from him and waved. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead move to the driver's seat. I didn't actually move towards the front doors of his building until he pulled away from the curb. Seeing my car being driven away without me in it finally help to break my near trance-like state.

 _What the hell are you doing?_ I thought to myself as I watched the numbers ascend to the Penthouse. _You're spending the night at your boyfriend's. You've done it before so it isn't weird._

Much like Lawson's place, I had been to Alex's Penthouse but I hadn't been there without him because he was usually waiting for me when I let myself in. I knew he had a guest room, but as I walked towards it, I suddenly stopped. Every other night I had spent at his place, I had slept in his room, so should I take my bags there? Or was that being presumptuous?

I was still standing in the hallway debating where to place my bags when I heard his front door open. I quickly dropped my bags and ran towards him once I was startled out of my thoughts. Poor Alex was balancing two pizza boxes, one of my suitcases and a plastic bag filled with something heavy looking while he locked the dead bolt.

I quickly claimed the pizza boxes because he looked like he was about to drop them.

"I'll take these to the kitchen," I offered as I turned and rushed to that room.

He watched me run away and placed the bag of beer by the front door so that he could take my last bag to his room. Once he reached the hallway to the bedrooms, he stopped and felt his jaw clench. If he ever got the chance, he would be more than happy to give his team captain an earful because it took a special kind of douchebag to extinguish the fire he had seen in my eyes before tonight and to cause this level of insecurity to manifest. Since Mike wasn't there to yell at, he picked up all of my luggage and carried them to his room.

When he made it to the kitchen, he nearly dropped the bag he was holding while he started laughing at me. I turned with a slice of pizza in one hand while shoving another slice into my mouth with my other hand. He was still chuckling as he walked up to me and kissed my nose.

I swallowed the food in my mouth and said, "Sorry. It just smelled so good and…"

"It's fine," he replied as he popped the top off a beer and pass it to me. "But why don't we take this party to the den?"

I grabbed the pizza boxes, a roll of paper towels and my bottle as I followed him while he carried the bag of drinks. I place the boxes side by side on the coffee table and then curled up in one corner of the couch.

Alex took his time as he moved my beer to the end of the table closest to where I was seated before he picked up the remote and sat down beside me. He flipped through a couple of channels before he switched the TV over to his Netflix and scrolled through to put on 'Supernatural'. He still had yet to look at me as he placed the remote on the table and then picked up a piece of pizza and settle back on the couch.

I watched him eat while his eyes remained fixed on the TV screen. Once he actually laughed at something one of the characters said, I sat forward to pick up my beer bottle. He didn't react to my movement, so I quickly swallowed down the contents of the bottle.

He didn't make it obvious that he was watching me watching him, so I had no idea that his eyes had strayed from the screen. Once the bottle was empty, I playfully elbowed him in the side and commented with a smirk, "I thought you didn't like this show."

"But I know you do. And tonight, is all about making you happy." I just stared at him with wide eyes causing him to turn and grab my free hand apologetically adding, "You quote them all the time and you said your ringtones are songs from the show…"

I lunged forward to silence him with a kiss. He accepted it without even a moment of hesitation, so I eased back to make it less intense. While we continued to make out, I climbed into his. Alex sat back against the couch and somehow pulled me impossibly closer to him.

After I had ravished his mouth, I sat back so that I could say, "You make me happy." I then crawled out of his lap and passed him a piece of pizza before I snuggled into his side. "But beer and pizza do help."

That night we ate pizza and drank been until I was almost falling asleep with my head in Alex's lap. It didn't hurt that he started stroking my hair as soon as my head hit his lap. This was the best place for me to be right now. After being rejected by my family there was nothing like good friends to make me feel less worthless.

"Ready for bed?" Alex questioned as another episode ended.

I nodded against his thigh before I forced myself to sit up. He turned off the TV and then stood up to offer me a hand to lead me to the bedroom. I hesitated for a moment, so he gently tugged my hand saying, "The mess can wait. If we don't get to it tomorrow, Livia will take care of it on Monday."

I spared another glance at the den before following him because despite living with Mike Lawson for a month, I still wasn't used to having a housekeeper cleaning up after me. IN the back of my mind I understood the logic of a bachelor who spent more time on the road than at home to have a housekeeper, but it was still weird. I meant it was nice that they both spoke to the ladies like they were friends or family, but it still made me a little bit uncomfortable to have someone else doing my chores.

As soon as he got to his room, Alex moved to his dresser and started to disrobe. I stood at the end of his bed shifting my weight from one foot to the other. Once he was down to his boxer briefs, Alex slipped on an oversized t-shirt on and turned to look at me.

When he saw that I hadn't changed, he moved his hands to the hem of his shirt and said, "Unless you had something other than sleep in mind..."

I shook my head and stared at my feet replying, "I... I don't have any PJs with me."

"You...? But last..." A couple of tears escaped out of my eyes, so I turned my back to him. "Hey... Brie? What's going on?"

He turned me around and moved to hug me, but I took a step back from him and shook my head while I continued to cry. He took a tentative step forward saying, "Baby? I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

That made me try to take in a deep breath, but all that accomplished was for me to let out a couple of sobs. I really wanted to tell him the truth, so I held up my hands to keep him where he was standing while I tried to explain.

Alex Ellis is a saint. I swear he is because he didn't move at all while I forced myself to calm down. Hell, he event went against his instinct to hug me when I looked up at him with fresh tears streaming down my cheeks.

Somehow I maintained eye contact with him as I said, "I left it all at his house."

Alex is a smart guy, so I knew he wasn't being dense when he asked, "What?"

I couldn't hold his gaze any longer, so I turned my head to stare at the foot of his bed as I answered, "All of the gear that he gave me."

That comment seemed to flip a switch in Alex because the next thing I knew he had scooped me up into his arms and he was saying into my hair, "You can borrow one of my shirts. Or keep it. I don't care. And I'll help you build up your Padres' wardrobe again. Please just don't cry anymore, I can't handle seeing you this hurt."

I sniffled back my tears so he quickly added, "Or cry if you need to... don't stop just because I told you to. You're your own person."

THAT made me laugh through my tears. He continued to hold me but remained silent. I'm sure that he didn't want to say anything else 'stupid', which made me laugh again.

That made him look into my face, but he remained mute. I tried to smile, but I'm sure I looked ridiculous as I said, "You're right. He doesn't deserve any more of my tears. Let's say I get you out of this ugly shirt and then we can fall asleep naked?"


	12. I'm Like A Faith Without A Clause To

I'm Like A Faith Without A Clause To Believe In It:

In anticipation of there being a lot of long hours and over-time coming up the week before the September 1st deadline, Mr. Cecil had pretty much closed the office to give us a couple of extra days off. For most of the ladies, they were able to relax and forget about work, but for me that wasn't the case. And it wasn't just because I was living with a baseball player. (Yeah, the one night had now turned into weeks and I hadn't been looking for a new place to live since Alex hadn't brought up me moving out at all.) No, it wasn't just living with Alex that kept me from being able to forget work, it was also the phone calls from my boss.

"So? Has he said anything to you, Brianna?"

I shook my head even though there was no way he'd be able to see it. "No, sir. He hadn't breathed a word about it to me."

Nevermind that he and I hadn't said a word to each other since I moved out. I was so busy with work that I didn't make it as many games as I wanted to, so there had been no chances of us bumping into each other. I had forgotten to leave his keys at the house in my haste to get out, but Alex had saved me the embarrassment of having to call him to meet up with him and just left them in Lawson's locker on my behalf. But my boss didn't know any of that, so I tried to be as vague as possible when he brought up the topic of the Padres' veteran catcher, so that I could avoid outright lying to him.

"But you had a meeting with him today, right? Weren't you able to talk with him about it?" I asked in an attempt to sort of change the topic.

"You're right, I did and I tried. But's he's being very stubborn and unhelpful, as usual."

"Well, at least you were able to start the conversation. Maybe now that you planted the see, he'll start thinking about it more seriously."

"That's a good point. Alright, I've taken up too much of your time on your day off, so I'll let you go."

"I honestly don't mind, Mr. Cecil. You can call me anytime you need."

"I appreciate that and your help with Mike. And Bri? Please call me Davis."

I wanted to clarify that I hadn't actually offered to help, but instead I heard myself say, "I'm happy to help, Si... Davis. I'm here to make your life easier."

After we disconnected, I found myself staring at the black screen on my phone. Maybe I should tell him the truth about my living arrangements. I knew that part of the reason that I hadn't already was because we had just had a meeting about me returning to his agency after I finished school in the Spring. Yes, I'm aware that I have self-esteem issues and that I should trust my own abilities to help further my career and not my non-existent relationship with my half-brother, but there it was; I was worried Mr. Cecil wouldn't hire me if he knew that Mr. Lawson and I weren't on speaking terms. I was in a weird head space at the time and it wasn't easy for me to break old habits.

 _Alright, enough thinking about what's his face,_ I thought to myself as I grabbed a ball cap and jacket out of the closet. _Time to go and cheer on your boyfriend... nevermind that what's his face will be there too._

I let out an audible groan because if I wanted to see Alex play ball that meant that I would be watching Mike Lawson too. Maybe all of these trade rumors could be a good thing for me. Maybe the catcher would do me a favor and ask to leave San Diego. Yeah... right. And maybe tomorrow I'd wake up as a millionaire who never had to work another day in my life. So not happening.

While I sat in the stands, I heard a few people talking about the trade rumors. So far, the consensus was that the catcher wouldn't let it happen. He had been a Padre from the first day of his professional baseball career, so he'd retire as one. He had come up through their farm system and he was going to finish his last day in the Majors with the familiar 'SD' logo on his hat. While I listened to three guys behind me debate those facts, I felt my lips pull back into a proud smile. I even pulled out my phone and it wasn't until I started to type out a text message that I finally became aware of what I was doing.

 _STOP IT!_ I yelled at myself as I put my phone back in my pocket. Although we hadn't really known each other all that long, my first instinct was to text Mike whenever I heard someone talking about him. Teasing him about all of the co-eds he had an 'in' with at Stanford based on what I heard them saying about him while I tried to study was a huge source of entertainment for me during my last semester at school. He, of course, at it up and his egotistical replies were strangely endearing.

But that was then. Now, I was cheering on Ginny Baker, will her to bounce back from the home run she gave up. Despite that, she was having a good game and all of us in the stands were letting her know she had our support. Yep, just cheering on Ginny Baker. I most definitely was not acutely aware that every pitch was being caught by the person I was having to make a conscious effort not to think about. Okay, well not EVERY pitch, but you know what I mean.

Almost as soon as Ginny started to get into a groove, the universe decided to prove how unfair it could be. This time it did so by having the heavens open up and rain hellfire on all of us. Alright, that was kind of melodramatic, but the rain clouds that had been threatening us all day finally started their downpour. Most of the fans scattered to the concourse at the sign of the first rain drops, but I stayed in my seat. I loved water in every form I could get it and it had been quite a while since I had been caught in a rainstorm.

"Hey! Crazy Lady! It's a rain delay! You should go find some shelter."

I looked down at the field and smiled when I saw my favorite member of the grounds crew. "I'm not made of sugar! I won't melt!"

"But you could catch the death of a cold!"

I stood up with my hands in a sign of surrender and replied, "Okay, fine. I'll get out of the rain. BUT only so that you can concentrate on your job and not on me dying."

"Good to hear. And get a hot cup of coffee too!"

I paused as I made my way up the stairs to give him a salute. He started laughing and so did I while I continued up the stairs. When I had first come back to San Diego, I thought it was to try to find a family with Mike Lawson. What I hadn't considered was that I already had one with the friends I had made here. Sure, we didn't hang out regularly or anything, but here at the stadium we had each other's backs.

"Miss? Did you want a towel to dry yourself off?"

I turned towards the elderly usher who had called out to me. She had on the same pleasant smile she had been wearing when she had first greeted me before the National Anthem was sung. I took off my hat to shake the excess water from it and wrung out my ponytail before I put my hat back on.

"Nah, I think that's the worst of it, but thank you for the offer."

She laughed and shook her head at my dismissiveness. "If you change your mind, let me know."

I watched her move to chat with a group of other staff members and smiled. Some days people seriously did not suck. Most days I questioned if people were being nice to me just because they wanted something from me. Usually, it was something from my half-brother, but there was still the rare occasion when I didn't have to question their motives at all. The usher had no idea who I was and yet she still treated me like I was special, just like she did with everyone else she met here at Petco.

My phone chimed then, which reminded me there was someone else who treated me that way. Someone who was not sitting in the clubhouse waiting out the rain delay with his teammates.

'Must be nice & cozy in the team's suite."

'LOL Yeah it much. But couldn't tell you myself.'

'What? I thought that's where U watch our games.'

"Nah tried 2 yrs ago... didn't suit me. Chatting w/ Evelyn was fun... Distracting, but fun. I prefer to sit in the stands.'

'SHIT! Tell me U aren't the crazy woman in the trench coat behind our dugout!"

'LOL... well... not anymore.'

'BRIE! Come down here and I'll have our clubbie bring U some towels.'

'Thanks, Lover, but I'm fine. Waiting in line 4 coffee so I'm good.'

'Babe come down & I'll have someone take you to the family room. They'll throw a shot of whiskey in your coffee up there.'

'Uhhhhhhhhhh... Thanks, but... NO!'

'Come on Brie...'

'Alex! No! That is so NOT me.'

'Fine. But when all of the guys start teasing me that ur my imaginary gf bc they never see U w the other ladies...'

'I'll make it up to you just like I did the 1st nite I moved in with U.'

'Come down to the clubhouse!'

That made me legitimately laugh out loud. I turned and quietly apologized to the other fans sitting by me, waiting out the rain in the rows of seats closest to the concourse.

'U want me 2 give ur teammates a show? DIRTY boy.'

'OH GOD NO! I'm not sharing you w/ anyone. I'll find us a nice, secluded spot.'

'Tempting... but u have to keep ur head in the game.'

'Sorry, I'm all distracted now.'

'Too bad. I had a new trick I was gonna try w/ U BUT only if u go 3-4 w/ 2 RBIs.'

'OMFG Brie! Ur killing me.'

'Not yet.'

"Wait! What if we get rained out?'

'Guess we'll have to wait until after tomorrow nite's game.'

'U are a mean & evil woman.'

'*frowny face* Keep talking like that & I might never show U the new trick.'

'Damn autocorrect! I meant U are an unbelievably beautiful woman.'

'Nice try Smooth Talker.'

'Brie... Baby, U know I... oh shit, I've gotta go.'

'U OK?'

'Yeah. Blip & the catcher are calling us 2gether 4 a kangaroo court.'

I smiled at how he had picked up on my habit of not using my half-brother's name.

'U should probably use his name... his real 1 that is... especially if he's the Judge.'

'Meh the fine will totally be worth it when I don't.'

'3 Have fun!'

As Javanes pulled out his wallet to place his fine of twenty dollars in the box, Blip pulled out another slip of paper from the jar. He read it and smiled because it was the one he had written out when Mike had agreed to play judge.

"ELLIS!" He read out with a chuckle. "You are accused of having your phone out during BP, texting someone instead of warming up with your All-Star center fielder."

Everyone turned to look at their right fielder with a few teasing remarks. Alex sat up straighter and turned his full attention to Blip to ask, "Bailiff, if I enter a guilty please can I still give an explanation for my actions? Y'know... so I can try to plea for leniency from yourself and... the judge?"

Blip turned to ask through a look at Mike. Mike just shrugged and answered, "Probably won't help, but why not?"

"Alright Ellis, you heard the judge," Blip stated with another chuckle. "Plus, I'm sure we could all use a laugh."

"Alright." Alex then turned so that he was looking their team captain right in the eyes. "I please guilty, Your Honor. But in my defense, I was checking on my girlfriend. She was still pretty emotional after her douchewad of a brother kicked her out. She felt weird about moving in with me, so I was just reassuring her that everything was alright on my end so that she could get some proper rest that night before going back to work the next day."

"Plus, if you're in the doghouse with your girl, you aren't getting any," one of the players sitting by Alex joked as he gave the right fielder's shoulder a shove.

Alex smirked but he didn't relinquish his stare with the team captain. Blip looked between the two of them and he was pretty sure he wasn't the only one who saw the tick in the catcher's eye.

Mike finally broke eye contact with Alex and he banged the gavel proclaiming, "Ten dollar fine. Next!"

"What? I owe forty bucks for talking out of turn, but he only has to pay ten for breaking one of Skip's rules?" Ginny called out in genuine confusion.

"My verdict if final. Next!" Mike replied without looking at the crowd in front of him.

Ginny opened her mouth to argue, so Blip started reading out the next charge. Unfortunately, it was one against Ginny and her failed attempt to steal third base. Since Mike's dismissiveness had already put her in a contrary mood, she immediately locked horns with her catcher. When Alex saw the fire blaze in Mike's eyes, he felt mildly guilty. He was sure that some of the wrath he heard in Mike's tone was actually meant for him. But then again, Ginny wasn't doing herself any favors with how she pulled Robles into the argument. Forget it being Kangaroo Court, this was not a good time to show Mike up.

"AND I'M THE TIE BREAKER!" Mike bellowed as he stood up at the table. "I've been on this team longer than all of you! My word should mean something, damn it! She missed the sign. Pay the fine. Go warm up!"

"Ten-minute recess," Blip quickly announced as he watched Mike leave the locker room. He then turned his attention to Alex, who seemed to be unnaturally fascinated with something on his cellphone.

'Hey! Other than Number 2, who else knows about us?'

'Looking to get another fine?'

'10 min recess… who else knows?'

'Have told anyone. I'm not exactly buddies w/ ur teammates.'

'I thought uve been hanging out w/ Ginny & Evelyn.'

'We went shopping ONCE. Our schedules haven't meshed lately. Why?'

'Pretty sure Blip figured it out.'

'?'

"Remember how I got busted w my ph out during BP?'

'And I told you a MILLION times to stop texting me b4 I just ignored U?'

'Yep… it came up as a charge.'

'OHHHHHH… And U found a "subtle" way to tell SOMEONE off while defending urself?'

'Something like that.'

Blip sat down beside Alex without the other man noticing. He discreetly read part of the conversation on Alex's phone before he asked, "How's Brie doing?"

"Shit man," Alex breathed out as he quickly slipped his phone into his back pocket. "She's… uhh… good. Busy with work, but good."

"I figure that was why I haven't seen her at our games lately."

"She still comes… not as often as she'd like, but… well… when she can make it, she waits for me in my truck after the game so that she doesn't run into… anyone," Alex explained quietly.

Blip stared at him for a second and then what Alex wasn't saying hit him. "Oh… yeah… that makes sense. Well… now you sitting with Mike on the bus makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah. It was me getting 'the talk' from him back when he gave a shit about Brie and her feelings," Alex answered, unable to conceal the anger in his tone.

Blip gave him a look to which Alex shrugged and shook his head. Blip wanted to question him about that but instead he asked, "But… but she's still working at Cecil's office, right?"

"Yeah. That's probably the only place you'll hear her say his name now."

"Wow. I didn't know things had gotten so bad. Do you know…?"

"Not my story to tell," Alex quickly interrupted. "Look Blip, she and I are in a really good place right now. I don't want to fuck that up by telling tales she doesn't want to get out."

That earned him a laugh from his teammate. "I hear you there. It took me a while to learn how to behave when Evelyn isn't around to keep me in line."

Alex chuckled at that. 'Trying to learn from my elders. But seriously Blip, call her or text her… whatever… even invite us for dinner. We'd be more than happy to tell you all about it… together."

"I'll hold you to that."

Mike still hadn't come back by then, so Blip got up to find Ginny. Now that he knew the truth about the staring contest between the right fielder and the catcher, he better understood where Mike's outburst had come from. Or at least what helped to push him over the edge so fast. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain everything to Ginny without spilling the beans about Brie and Alex, but he knew that he had to say something to her.

As soon as he was assured that he was by himself, Alex pulled out his phone and typed out, 'Wait for me in the tunnel after the game.'

'What? But… what about…?'

'Please Brie? I swear he won't be an issue.'

'I don't…'

'If I go 3-4 w/ 2 RBIs?'

'What if you get rained out?'

'I heard the storm's letting up.'

DAMN! He had me there. 'I'll think about it, okay?'

'Better than an outright "NO!".'

And that was the last thing he said about the topic. Have I mentioned that Alex is a saint? But even thinking that, I couldn't help but wonder why he had changed his mind and was wanting me to meet him with the rest of the WAGs and agents. I thought that we were on the same page about that, so why the apparent sudden change?

Those thoughts kept me so distracted that it wasn't until the sixth inning that I noticed that Duarte was behind the plate. SHIT! Now Alex's request made a bit more sense. If the back-up catcher was in the game, that meant the starting catcher was in the clubhouse doing his usual post-game icing, stretching or whatever the hell he does that makes him so late after the last out of the game. Hell, he might even be pissed off enough about being pulled from the line-up that he might leave early too. That sneaky little asshole. He knew Duarte was going to be behind the plate after the rain stopped, so I really didn't have an excuse not to wait for Alex like he asked me to do.

So, yeah, I gave into my boyfriend's wishes. But that doesn't mean that I moved all that fast while I complied. Not only was I going at a snail's pace, I nearly did turn around and make a run for it when I saw the first wife with a sleeping toddler in her arms. It wasn't like I had promised Alex or anything, so he would never know that I chickened out.

No, I had made my decision. I was doing this, so I was sticking to it and keeping my feet moving.

I turned a corner and breathed out a sigh of relief when I turned around and saw that it was Amelia who had called my name. Much like the first time I saw her here, she had her phone out and I was more than certain she had been feverishly typing on it up until the point she called out my name."

"Hey Amelia, long time no see."

She smiled as she retorted, "Hey, I've been here. But I'm guessing you've been busy?"

"Yeah, work has been pretty crazy. Lots to learn."

"And are you enjoying it as much as you thought that it would?"

I shrugged and tried not to sound like a fawning schoolgirl when I replied, "It's hard work, but it's still my dream job. Plus, Mr. Cecil… What…? What is it Amelia?"

Her eyes went a little bit wider at someone or something that was coming up behind me. I started to turn around but stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I silently started chanting in my head for it not to be the starting catcher who was touching me. I was still praying that it wasn't him when I turned with the hand gently pulling on my shoulder with my eyes squeezed shut tightly.

That was until I felt lips touch mine. My eyes flew open in surprise, but they closed just as quickly again when I saw that it was Alex who was pushing his tongue past my lips. If I had of known this was going to be the reception I could receive, I would have wait down here a lot sooner.

He only broke the kiss once he had to in order to take in a breath. I had completely forgotten how to breathe at that point because yes, the kiss was THAT good.

My eyes remained closed as he pet my cheek and said, (and might I add that it was not in a quiet voice), "I love you, Brie."

Again, my eyes flew open. We hadn't really been together all that long, so neither of us had said those words yet. It wasn't that I didn't feel the same way, I just didn't want to be the lame girl who said it first too early. But, Alex save me from that. Yep, he is a saint.

A couple of happy tears fell from my eyes as I smiled and replied, "I love you too, Alex."

Blip let out a whoosh of air when Evelyn elbowed him hard in the side. He gave his wife a hurt look as she threw a hand towards where I was now pulling Alex down for another kiss."

"When were you going to tell me about that?" She accused with an angry bite.

He was rubbing his side when he answered, "I just found out about it myself."

"Really?"

Blip pouted slightly as he replied, "Really."

He fell silent, as did everyone else in the hallway, when the door to the clubhouse opened. I probably would have heard the collective gasp from the crowd when Mike Lawson turned to see what had caught everyone's attention, but I was too preoccupied with Alex. The catcher visibly started in his place, but he recovered quickly. Now the teammates who thought I looked familiar could place me and they practically held their breath while they waited for his reaction (especially now that Alex's explanation for his guilty plea came back to mind).

When I pulled away from Alex's lips, my smile quickly contorted into a frown at the lack of noise in the hallway. Usually there was the soft murmur of voices, but that wasn't happening now, so I used my hands on Alex's waist so that I could balance myself to look around him.

"Shit," I cursed softly and with conviction as I cowered in front of him.

Alex let me use him as a human shield while he stole a glance over his shoulder. When he caught a glimpse of his team captain, he quickly turned back to me and said in a frantic voice, "I'm SO sorry. I thought he would be gone by now."

He was holding my cheeks, so I wrapped my hands around his wrists and replied with a smile on my face, "I figured as much."

After that we only had eyes for each other, so we didn't see the catcher shake his head and continue to the exit. We also didn't notice that everyone was talking and acting more at ease in the hallway. That was until we heard someone clearing their throat purposefully beside us.

We both turned and I let out a nervous laugh when I came face to face with Evelyn, who had her arms folded over her chest. "Something you want to share, Brie?"

I laughed softly at that question. What? She was using her 'stern mom' voice on me, she knew what my reaction would be. "Umm… maybe."

"Maybe, my ass," she retorted quickly. "Fine, be that way. Our sitter is still on the clock, so you two are coming out for dinner with us so that you can tell me all about this."

I looked up at Alex to see if he was on board, but neither of us had a chance to speak because Evie was quickly adding, "I know you don't have to work tomorrow, so you can' use that as an excuse."

"How did you…?" I tried to ask feeling thoroughly confused.

"Blip's agent works in the same office, remember?" Evelyn asked with a slight hind of a sneer. My cheeks instantly turned pink because no, I honestly hadn't remembered that. My reaction actually surprised her, so she sounded much less angry when she said, "Wow, you really… Alright, enough about that. Let's get to the restaurant so we can talk."

Neither Alex nor I were inclined to argue with Evelyn Sanders. Nor were either of us worried about finding out where to meet the other couple. One of us would receive a text with that information once we reached Alex's truck.

Speaking of, once we were seated in Alex's Yukon Denali, he turned to me and sincerely said, "I really did think that he would be long gone. I honestly didn't expect to see him when I said that to you."

I blinked up at him coquettishly while he spoke. Then as I looked up at him through my lashes I coyly asked, "Said what?"

He smiled and answered, "I love you."

"That will never get old," I replied before I leaned forward to kiss him. "I love you too."


	13. And If All The World Was Smiling, I

And If All The World Was Smiling, I Would Only Ever Want To See Your Frown:

Turns out that Davis Cecil is a pretty smart guy. I don't just mean in a book smart kind of way. Once more than one of his clients cleared waivers, the day s at the office got much longer. I was at the office every day before Alex woke up to head into the park so that we could get a jump on the day by staying in contact with our New York office. Most of the trades were completed quickly, so he and I had more than enough work to do finalizing those contracts.

Again, I say MOST of the trades. There was still one that had yet to be negotiated. Of course, the most difficult deal that we were waiting for was for a particular Padre to go to the Cubs. As if it wasn't bad enough that I hardly got to see my boyfriend (I was usually asleep by the time he got home and he was usually still dead to the world when I left for work), but I also hadn't been able to go to any games over the last week and it was all Mike Lawson's fault.

Alright, that might be a little harsh since he wasn't the one negotiating the terms of his trade. NO, he was just the douchenozzle who had waived his 'No Trade Clause' to facilitated the trade so that he could betray his friends. Did I mention that before I knew he and I share SNA that I was a die-hard Mike Lawson fan? Part of the fun of that was that it annoyed my dad, but he would never tell me why. So, now when I saw his name on the mocked-up contracts, it was through a fan's eyes and it hurt. Sure, I was still licking my wounds from when he kicked me out of his house, but I had been a fan before I was his sister, so those were the feeling that I fell back on the most when I thought about him now.

"Brianna? What are you still doing here?"

I dropped the contract I was holding before I turned my chair to look at my boss, "I was… I was looking over the changes we made."

He smiled and chuckled as he said, "I told you already that the wording you came up with is better than perfect. Come on now. I distinctly remember also telling you that once you had the plane tickets booked that you could head home… or to the game. I have to go pack and we won't have anything to do until we hear back from Oscar. Heck, I thought you'd jump at the chance to get to the game as quickly as possible."

I smiled shyly then answered, "I wanted to make sure you really didn't need me to do anything else before I go, Mister… err… Davis."

"And I don't. You've gone above and beyond already," he replied as he pulled my chair back from my desk. "Now, come on. We'll be working double time when I get back from Chicago, so enjoy your time off while you have it."

"Alright, if you're…"

"I'm sure."

By this time, he was helping me into my jacket. "Oh, wait…"

"Brianna, I truly do appreciate your dedication to this job… hell, that's why I offered you the position once you finish your exams, but it isn't too late for me to rescind that offer. We haven't singed the contracts yet."

I gave him wide eyes, but managed to sound calm when I said, "No, it isn't about that Mr. Cecil. I just wanted to remind you to check your emails once you get to the airport. I made sure to arrange to have a car waiting at the airport to pick you and your client up to take you to the hotel after you land. The reservations and confirmations for the rooms should be in your email by now too. Oh… and… I reserved cars to take you both to the ball park for the press conference and they will wait to bring you back to the hotel since I'm sure your client will want to stay behind for a tour and such. And last, but not least, I made reservations at your favorite steak house for tomorrow night too."

Now he was the one standing there with a surprised look on his face. "Are you sure you have to go back to school?"

"Only if I want any hope in hell of passing the Bar Exam," I answered with a chuckle.

"Right, because you don't want to be my assistant forever. Any chance I can convince you to clone yourself before you head back to Stanford?"

I laughed at that. "Sure, why not? Then I can send her back to do all of my exams."

"You've got yourself a deal." He opened the door to my taxi, almost as if he thought I would sneak back up to the office if he didn't force me to leave. "Enjoy your time off, Brie. You really have earned it."

"Thank you, Sir. Have a safe trip. Don't hesitate to let me know if I can do anything else to make your life easier while you're away."

It was still fairly early in the day, so I told the driver to take me to the stadium. I had brought a change of clothes, so I could change out of my suit at the ball park. Heck, it was early enough that I might actually be able to see my boyfriend when he was awake, upright and not in uniform or on TV. Today was really starting to look up for me.

While I waited in the hallway by the clubhouse after I had changed into jeans and a t-shirt, I heard the distinct sound of clapping off in the distance. Right, of course HE would have to be the first one here. I looked at my phone again and nearly stood up to leave. Technically I had enough time to dump my bags off at home and come back to surprise Alex, but there was one major glitch to that plan. That being that the only route out of here would force me to walk past HIM and whomever he was chatting with right now.

Nope, that wasn't going to happen. Maybe if I just sat here without moving he would treat me like I was invisible. That tactic seemed to work well with my older sister, so it really shouldn't fail me now, right?

I heard a muffled 'Tell Ginny' just before the door to my left opened. I knew who would be coming through it, but I still lifted my head to look at him. Why did I do that? Trying to be invisible didn't work if I was moving, damn it!

My movement was just an instinct that all of us have within us for self-preservation, but it did allow me to witness his reaction to seeing me there. He froze in the doorway for a second. He, of course, regrouped quickly so that he could sound like his usual cocky self when he said, "This is a restricted area."

I frowned at that and forced myself not to look away when I shot back with my reply of, "Even if I wasn't the assistant to a certain someone's agent, Joey knows I won't sneak into the clubhouse to steal any souvenirs."

He stepped into the hallway and let the door close behind him under its own weight. "Well, Lover Boy isn't here."

"Hence why I'm waiting in a secluded area to surprise him."

I knew he wouldn't be able to resist, so the eyebrow waggle that accompanied his words came as no surprise to me. "Secluded, huh? Not giving you enough attention at home?"

"Fuck," I whispered to myself as I rolled my eyes at my lap. He snorted in a laugh, so I lifted my head to look at him and angrily say, "Not that I really have a home anymore. (The 'thanks to you' could hopefully be hear in my tone.) I've been spending a lot of extra hours at work lately. Y'know, perfecting a contract for someone who's…?"

"HEY!" He interrupted as he stepped in front of me to tower over me. "No one has MY permission to talk about that yet!"

I stood up and puffed my chest out to show him that he didn't intimidate me. "Good thing we're in a restricted area then, eh?"

He opened his mouth to issue what I'm sure he was convinced was a witty response, but something else captured his attention. My eyes started to follow the invisible path his were on, but I stopped myself just as quickly. I turned my eyes back to my feet because I knew what he was looking at right now. Shit, SHIT and triple SHIT!

"Hey, Lil Sis…? What's this that just fell out of your pants?" He playfully questioned as he moved to pick it up.

I immediately placed the flat of my palm against his chest and gave him a bit of a shove as I growled out, "None of your fucking business. And you don't get to call me that anymore, Mr. Lawson."

He stared at me in a surprised silence for a brief second. Yeah, I knew calling him that would get his attention. We exchanged smug smirks before he pressed his chest against my palm. Alright, so I initiated physical contact first, which usually escalated the situation, but I only wanted to give an air of toughness to him. Y'know, that I was willing to physically restrain him from finding out what I had dropped without really meaning it? But, I knew that even though I had the knowledge of where to hit him to incapacitate him, there was no way that would hurt him… Well physically. I knew that, but I didn't want him to know that.

Mike, of course, called my bluff and moved to his right to get around me. I had just enough time to turn around to see him picking up the women's sized jersey with "LAWSON" and "36" on the back of it.

Don't ask me what his reaction to it was because I refused to look him in the eye. What can I say? Die hard far for over a decade. When I couldn't talk any of my friends into buying it for me as a present, I saved up and bought it myself. I justified my splurge as it being a reward for earning a partial scholarship to my college of choice.

"Brie…" He questioned with a tone that I wasn't used to hearing from him.

He sounded unsure, so I moved my eyes up to his face, I don't know if it took me a long time to reach my destination, but once I did there was nothing earnest or sincere left in his expression.

Instead, he was wearing a cocky smirk when he said, "Aww… did you want me to sign this for you?" He leaned in slightly then continued in a stage whisper, "You know the best part about restricted areas? No autograph hounds allowed."

My jaw unconsciously clenched before I snatched my jersey out of his hands. I should have left it at that, but my mouth really didn't know when to keep quiet sometimes.

"Actually, I was thinking of wearing it since it's your… well YOU know…" I slowly folded it and made a show of treating the garment like it might break if I didn't use a delicate hand as I place it in my duffle bag. "But, it's going to be a collector's item. I should keep it in pristine condition if I want to get the best price for it in the future. Can't really let you go scribbling on it and ruin it now, can I?"

He tried to break the mounting tension between us by playfully glaring at me. My expression didn't change. Wait, maybe it did, but it just hardened. I wasn't going to let him use his charms on me anymore. He lost that privilege the second that Alex held me and tried to soothe away my tears after he found me in my car, ready to break down at the drop of a hat after another piece of my heart had been crushed by a so-called family member.

"Brie? Come on," he tried to joke when his other antics didn't work.

I continued to glare at him until a thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Fuck this," I said to myself. I then snatched up my duffle bag and brief case before I turned to push my way past the catcher in the hopes that he wouldn't have time to react.

If I didn't think the universe hated me before, I would say that I now had confirmation of that fact. Mike turned around quickly, so much faster than I thought that his abused limbs could react, to grab my arm. When I turned to give him a withering glare, his grip on my arm slackened significantly.

That was something I would be stupid not to take advantage of, so I didn't. With what I felt was lightning speed, I ripped my arm out of his hold and took a couple of long strides away from him. I made sure I was far enough away that he wouldn't be able to touch me as I hefted my back further up onto my shoulder as I said, "Look… Mr. Lawson, I already have a brother and sister who act like I shouldn't exist in their worlds…" I unconsciously retreated another couple of steps back. "I don't know why I thought it would be any different with you. That was my mistake, Mr. Lawson, so… so… I'm sorry I ever bothered you with my stupid school girl fantasies, really, I am. That… that was unfair for me to do to you. You don't have to worry… although I'm sure that you don't… but either way, I'm fine. You live your live, I'll live mine… it's fine."

My feet had continued to move towards the door he had just entered thought and I hit the its handle suddenly. He took a step forward, so I took another one back as I cracked the door open to give me room to move. Thankfully, he took the hint and took a large step away from me. I sort of hate myself for the grateful look I gave him, but he had earned it.

I opened the door a little wider so that I could make my final retreat saying, "Mr. Lawson…"

"Brie… don't…" He interrupted in an anguished tone.

He paused when I shook my head and started to step through the open door. I stared at my feet for a second before I turned my face towards him. Could he see the tears welling up in my eyes? Despite the old man joke all of us, himself included, liked to make, I'm sure that he did. And there was no denying that anyone within hearing range could hear the tears in my voice when I said, "Mist… uhh… Mike… I really hope you find what you're looking for in Chicago. I'm… I'm sorry none of us could… could help you find it here."

I'm sure he had a response to that, but I slipped out the door and slammed it shut before he could say it. Hell, I even held onto the handle for a count of ten just in case he tried to chase after me. How insane was that?

Of course, I didn't feel any tugging against my hold on the handle. I know I had said it out loud to him, but I guess that I still believed, deep down, that he would be different from my other siblings; that he's care enough to ignore what I said and find me to talk it out.

I sniffled in a breath, but when I looked up at Joey he didn't give away that he heard it. Instead, he just smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry Miss Grissom, but I still haven't seen Mr. Ellis yet."

"Joey," I sighed out with a genuine smile. "What do I have to do to get you to call me 'Brie' or the less favorable 'Brianna'?"

He grinned then answered, "Well, the smile helps… Brianna."

"Good," I replied as I thrust my hand forward for a fist bump. I continued down the hallway then called out, "I swear, by the end of the season, I will get you to call me 'Brie', Joey! Even if it's just the one time!"

I made sure to chuckle as I walked away and out of his eye sight. Once I was assured that I was alone, except for the random workers rushing around to do their jobs, I stopped and let out a quiet sob. The next one that wanted to escape was stifled by my fist trying to force its way past my teeth. No, I'm not proud that's what I had to do to keep myself quiet, but it had to be done. I had told Alex that his team captain didn't deserve anymore of my tears and I really wanted to stay true to that proclamation. It was one I really tried to keep, but that didn't stop a couple of drops of moisture from escaping down my cheeks or more from wanting to follow their tracks.

"Brie…?" An uncertain voice called out from behind me.

 _FUCK MY LIFE!_ I thought to myself as I let out a quiet growl. Thinking that the voice belonged to the person from whom I was trying to get away, I turned and punched the concrete wall to my left. A smart person would have made it a quick, non-consequential punch, but not me. Me? I let my emotions get the better of me and I put all of my anger behind it. I swear I heard a weird, meaty crunch when my knuckles connected with the cement bricks.

"BABY!" The voice behind me called out frantically.

By the time I had my right hand cradled against my chest in my left hand, Alex had already made it to my side. He hugged me against his chest even before I became conscious of him touching me, so I didn't react at all. That unfortunately meant that once I realized that someone was touching me, I tried to get away from him. What can I say? The pain I felt emotionally really was making me stupid and the new physical pain I had inflicted on myself was trying to mute any voices coming my way… even the ones that only existed in my head.

"Brie…? Baby… Baby, what did he do?" Alex asked quietly once he corralled me against the wall. He lowered his voice and nearly whispered in my ear, "I swear to God, Brie, I don't care what the Padres' or the MLB do to me, but if he said one more douchey thing to you to make you this upset, I WILL end his career. One good hit in the knee and he's done…"

"Alex?" I quietly questioned in a moment of clarity as I turned my fact to look up at him. "Alex, you can't… Why…? Why would you say such a thing?"

Alex held up my already red, swelling hand up in front of my face as he answered, "I present exhibit A here."

"Alex…" I laughed and tried to pull my hand out of his grasp, so he quickly countered with an emphatic, "BRIE! You just punched a brick wall!"

"Oh… well… I…" I stared at him and then my hand before what I had done really sunk in. "Okay, I don't remember hitting the wall, but it's better than me punching his face. I'll heal… it really isn't that bad."

Alex was now holding my head so that I had no choice but to look at his face as he asked, "What did he say to you, Baby?"

I placed my palms over the back of his hands answering, "Nothing I didn't expect. I'm sorry, but it still just brought up so much shit… Shit that neither of created. I know it should have this effect on me, but…"

"But, you can feel any way you want about anything."

I started in my spot. He continued to hold my face so I lifted my right index finger to his lips answering, "Smooth Talker… which I'm not." I once again place my right hand in my left before I added, "I wish I had your way with words. Instead…"

I sniffled in a breath and fell silent as I shook my head, prompting Alex to ask, "Instead what, Baby?"

"Instead…" I tried to turn away from him, but Alex knew that play. Damn it, had we been together long enough that he knew I would try to cower away fromm him and try to joke away the pain. Huh, then again maybe it wasn't just me that he had learned that lesson from. "Instead, I told him… I told him the ONE thing I had told you I never wanted him to hear. I even put him in the same category as... as… as them."

Alex pulled me into a tight hug as he quietly said, "I'm sorry your angry about it Brie, but I think you needed to get that out… especially to him."

"But…"

"I know he doesn't DESERVE it from you. But… that doesn't mean that you aren't willing to give people what they haven't earned. Plus, you needed to do it for you and not him."

"Alex…"

He pressed me closer to his chest saying, "I don't care what you say Brie because you know I'm right."

"You're right," I replied at the same time.

He pushed me out of his arms to give me a strange look. I laughed then added, "That SO isn't the first time I've said that!" He smiled so I kissed him and then quietly explained, "You are right. But can we talk about it all later when you get home?"

"Get home? You're not staying?"

I shook my head and bit back another sob. "It just feels too weird now. I'd rather go home and cook something for you to enjoy after a win."

"I'd like that too…" I started at him because I wasn't sure what he wanted to add. He kissed me quickly then continued, "I'd also love it if we ordered in so that you can just relax when you get home."

"I… I need the distraction," I confessed shyly.

Alex kissed me again then whispered against my lips, "I can't wait to try that new recipe you've been talking about."

I'm sure he felt my smile before I bashed our lips together. He just let me abuse his face before I hugged his waist and said, "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied before he kissed my forehead.


	14. You Know They Can Sail Away In Sunsets

You Know They Can Sail Away In Sunsets, We'll Be Stranded on the Ground:

After he had hit a few balls out of the field and into the stands, Alex grabbed his glove and moved into the outfield. After he shagged a few of his teammates fly balls, he started to stretch and prepare himself (mentally) for the game. Before he ran out to the outfield, he had checked in on Brianna and once again she had scolded him about it. He knew that she wasn't like most women, but it was her unique way of bluntly saying, "Get your fucking head in the game" that actually allowed him to relax and get focused.

He was just getting into the groove of allowing the new stretches Brianna had taught him before Alex's 'Zen' was interrupted by someone's knee letting out a loud 'pop'. He didn't really need to investigate, because Alex was sure he knew who would be standing there when he looked up. The only thing that kept him from telling off his team captain was the sick joy he took in watching the older player try to contort his limbs in the same way that he was doing it. The same way that Brianna had demonstrated to her boyfriend and her brother on separate occasions.

Even though he knew it was the years he had on the catcher that allowed him to move his body into the proper positions easily, Alex liked to think that it was actually due to his one no one time spent with Brie. It still amazed him that she could talk about deferred salaries and performance bonuses without missing a beat while she showed him a new way to stretch a muscle. And all of those new exercises really had helped to improve his performance. Whomever was the first athlete to sign with her as their agent was going to be the luckiest son of a bitch in their league. If only he could be the one, but…

"Ellis, can I ask you something?" His team captain called out breathily while he tried to complete some sort of yoga-like maneuver.

Alex spared a glance over his shoulder before he untwisted himself and answered, "If you want to know if you're doing that right… I'd say…go ask whoever showed you that move because I have no fucking clue."

Mike unfurled his body as he glanced at Alex, but he didn't say anything right away. Sure, he wanted to but right now he knew that wouldn't help him reach his end goal. So, instead, Mike gave Alex a forced smile and said, "Good one, New Guy, but that wasn't my question."

Alex gave Mike a 'sourpuss' face at that nickname, so Mike explained, "Well, you aren't a rookie and you came to this team in a trade and… well… she hasn't dated another play since… shit, at least…"

"She hasn't," Alex snapped out over the rest of Mike's words. "She was so focused on impressing you that she never wanted to be with another Padre."

"And yet…"

Alex glared at Mike and once again interrupted him as he retorted, "You mean DESPITE all of that, she and I still found each other." Mike looked genuinely surprised by that comment which caused Alex to let out a humorless laugh as he stated, "You really don't know her at all."

Mike's jaw clenched before he said through his teeth, "I guess that I don't." He then forced himself to relax because he thought he had found an opening with Alex. "So, Ellis? Why don't you tell me more about her? Like… What did she mean when she said that her brother and sister wish she didn't exist?"

Although he would argue that he didn't, Alex nearly fell over during his stretch as he asked, "She told you that?"

"Yeah…" Mike paused as he tried to remember her exact wording. "Well, she said something like that."

"Well then…I guess you should ask her about it. You know… so that there's no misunderstandings," Alex replied with a cheeky smirk. He had barely gotten the last word out before he was sprinting towards left field. Mike thought it was simply to get away from him, but in reality, Alex wanted to start his other workouts. The team wasn't far out of the running for the playoff race, Brianna had talked to him about the stats to prove to him when she thought he wasn't listening, so he wanted to get game ready. (She did it then because she didn't want him to think that she was pressuring him into doing anything, professionally or personally. Her lack of pressure ended up making him want to do better on the field and to be a better man for her.)

But today none of the Padres came through for Brianna. It was a hard loss to swallow for all of their fans. Today was supposed to end on a high note to take away some of the sting. The sting of signs pointing to Mike Lawson allowing himself to be traded away. No one really cared where, but it definitely hurt more that the rumors persisted that he had agreed to it only so that he could go to a team who the pundits were predicting would be a guarantee to go to the playoffs.

It hurt and Alex understood how it could be devastating. That's why he didn't wait to watch Mike Lawson's curtain call after the catcher struck out. Alex really didn't care about Mike Lawson's apparent resistance to living San Diego, he only cared about how it was affecting his girlfriend. He had meant it, wholeheartedly, when he told her that first at his apartment that 'it' was all about making her happy. What Brianna had yet to understand was 'it' wasn't just for that first night when she moved in with Alex. No, he meant 'it' as every day they were together for the rest of their lives.

When Alex got home, he threw open the door and called out, "Brie! BRIE?!"

I'm sure that I heard him. I had to have heard him because I knew that he could yell loud enough to be heard anywhere inside of his suite. Sure, I knew that, but at the same time his calls fell on deaf ears. I sat on the couch and stared at the TV blankly, feeling completely numb.

Knowing Alex, he probably continued calling out my name because he was that kind of guy. Plus, I saw his lips moving when he gently cupped my chin and turned my head so that I was facing him.

"He struck out," I finally heard myself say.

Alex smiled softly as he sat down beside me. He opened his mouth to reply, but I just continued my thought, "It wasn't supposed to end like this. He was supposed to get a hit. You were supposed to win the game. What the hell?"

"Life isn't a movie."

I frowned at his softly spoken words. "I know that. But some people get it. Jim Morris' life was like a movie, even before Disney got their hands on it. Hell, 'Fever Pitch' was re-written so that they could capture the magic of the 2004 BoSox win. Why couldn't we have this one little thing?"

"I don't know," he whispered as he pet my cheek.

My bottom lip started to tremble as I stared into his eyes. It was hard for me to do in a strong voice, but I still managed to croak out, "I'm sorry."

He started to frown the second that he heard my words. "Why are you sorry?"

I held up my hand that was now wrapped in a gel pack and held on by Velcro as I explained, "I was gathering everything together to make dinner when my knuckles started to hurt so badly that I had to stop. Then while I was getting iced up, I heard on the radio that they were letting him his, so I came in here to watch the game… so…"

"OH!" He answered with an exaggerated smile. He pulled me into a hug and then said against my hair, "Don't worry about that. I already told you I thought that we should order in. What do you feel like?"

"Like letting you hold me like this until the universe decides to bend to my will," I replied snuggling further into his chest.

He moved us so that he could lay down and have me blanket his body. That had become our favorite position in which to watch TV, so we felt completely comfortable. Comfortable enough that neither of us felt the need to talk. Now the only noise, besides our breathing, was the voices coming from the commentators on the TV. Photos and video clips of Mike Lawson kept flashing across the screen to go with their words. They even added a few from when he was in Little League and the Minors.

When Alex heard me sniffle in a breath, he moved his hand to pick up the remote from the coffee table. My left hand immediately followed and paused his hand from lifting the remote up.

"Leave it on, please?" I whispered to keep him from hearing my tear-filled tone.

He couldn't see my smile, so he didn't know that the tears in my eyes were happy, nostalgic ones. The younger photos reminded me of the time when I was still my father's "Little Slugger" and my sister would look me in the eye when she spoke to me. Instead, now there were no pet names used by him unless we were assured to be alone and she usually left any room I entered the second she saw me.

I don't know what Alex felt or heard, but while he was stroking my hair he seemed to sense that I was ready to talk. "Did you really tell him they wish that you didn't exist?"

I nodded while my cheek was still resting on his chest. "I don't really know why, but I did. Wanna hear something stupid?"

"From you? Always."

I quietly chuckled at his tone of voice then said, "I swear he actually looked worried about me when I said that to him. Like it hurt him to hear it. That's really stupid, isn't it?"

"Can't be stupid because you're the smartest person I know."

"Alex!" I countered with a snort and a laugh. I pushed up on his chest so that I could look down at him. "That's what happens when you only hang out with jocks."

We didn't end up ordering in that night. Instead we found some cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli. Believe me, I'm still teasing Alex about a grown man having that in his cupboards. That turned into the night that I found out that Alex's mom still sends him care packages every six months like she did when he was in college. Never mind that he had recently been talking to his agent about renegotiating the terms of his performance bonus clauses because of how well he had been doing during the second half of the season. He was still her little boy and Alex would never do anything to discourage her from thinking that because it would break her heart and he secretly loved how she still tried to baby him.


	15. Just Happy To Be Found

Just Happy To Be Found:

As I leaned in to hiss him again while we laid naked on our sides on the bed, I was feeling grateful that we had eaten. We both had needed the energy it gave us to fuel out passion. There were times when I worried that we were using sex as a distraction, but now that Alex was staring into my eyes and placing soft kissing against each of my injured knuckles, I knew that was wrong. We didn't use it to distract ourselves from anything important and that was all that mattered.

Behind me we could hear my phone making a variety of sounds, so Alex stopped kissing me to ask, "Shouldn't you check that? What if it's the Big Bossman?"

I shook my head and pressed my hand back to his lips. Once he resumed kissing my abused flesh, I answered, "Davis is old school, he prefers to speak to people so there's no way he's texting me right now. Especially since..."

I moved to look over my shoulder, but Alex stopped me by pulling me into a kiss. I rolled onto my back so that he could have the power position this time around. I would say that he earned it, but our relationship wasn't like that. We were there for each other and would support each other, always. He seemed to be proving that to me on a daily basis lately. Plus, I hated how other men were coming up in conversation when we were naked in bed together. Especially when those men were out of the running for joining us for a sexy threesome because of biology or work professionalism. Alright, that's a lie. Alex and I were fine on our own, so I really hated that we couldn't just be in the moment right now. That MY work was threatening to interfere with our time together.

Wait? MY work? Wow! When did that happen?

"Alright," relented while my phone continued to make a noise. "Then who is trying to get your attention so insistently right now?"

"How should I know?" I asked through a laugh.

Alex tried to glare at me before he laughed and replied, "Because some of those are custom ringtones. Seriously Brie! What do you have going on that I don't know about?"

"Going...? NOTHING!" I must have looked genuinely upset because his expression turned truly contrite, but I still continued to protest. "Babe! You know more about my life than anyone else. Hell, no one even knows about my hand yet. And... and I might lose my job when Mr. Cecil finds out."

"No, you won't. He..."

"Alex," I tried to interrupt thinking that I was being the voice of reason.

"You won't! If you can't write for a few days, he would be insane not to find someone to do it for you."

"I'm not that important to his business..."

"Yet," he interrupted over the rest of my pessimistic comment.

I tried to glare at him, but my desire to kiss him too me over. He was literally the best thing that had happened to me since I moved to San Diego. Forget what I thought my hopes and dreams had been for my time here because the Padres' right fielder had crushed any expectations I had thought would exist so that we could pave a way to our future. He made it feel like anything could happen effortlessly, so long as we were in it together.

Just before my lips could crush against his, admittedly a little too forcefully, I froze in my spot. It wasn't Alex's fault. No, he was damn near perfect. Seriously, it was almost obscene how great he was and how naturally it came to him. Nope, it was Dennis Leary singing the chorus to his song 'Asshole' that did it.

Alex snorted out a breath and then asked through a laugh, "Seriously?"

I shrugged before I quietly answered, "What? 'Hey Assbutt' just didn't do him justice."

He stroke the side of my head as he replied, "I get that."

After we had been staring into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds, Alex finally asked through a whisper, "Are you going to answer it?"

"No," I answered without a breath of hesitation.

Alex gave me a look before he pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Alright. Fine, but what if...?"

That's when my phone dinged to let us know that I had a new voicemail. Suddenly both of our faces lost their smiles at that sound.

I didn't move from my spot, so Alex asked softly, "Brie?"

"What?" I snapped out a little too angrily.

"Brie... Baby... I..."

I let out a quiet growl and then rolled off the bed. We both knew I want to know what he had said on my voicemail, but I couldn't admit that out loud. It's stupid logic, but that's what my brain was thinking.

I plucked my phone from the charger and walked back to the bed to pass it to Alex. He had sat up on the bed and looked confused when I didn't climb back on the bed to rejoin him. I would get there soon enough, but right now I needed to stand on my own.

"This is why I should keep the stupid thing on silent," I joked weakly. He gave me a smile even though we both knew it wasn't funny.

"Baby, why don't you come back up here?"

I shook my head then answered, "No... I... Please, can you just...?"

"Hey... uhh... Hey Brie... Bri-anna..." Mike Lawson's voice coming from my phone's speaker cut me off while I was stuttering because Alex had already typed 0236 to get to my messages. "So, I guess by now you've heard that the deal fell through... And no matter how Davis tries to spin it, it really wasn't my doing, but... But that isn't why I'm calling. Look, I fucked up. I'll admit that. You never actually asked me for anything but to be your brother. I mean it hurt that... No... That's... I don't want to joke shit like this off with you. Brie... You wanted a brother and I didn't think I knew how to be that guy for you, but... not that I deserve it, but I'm pretty sure I need you to help me to keep me in line. You... you probably won't even listen to this... Shit... Either way... I'm sorry I was the world's biggest asshole to you. You didn't deserve that from me. So... in case you didn't catch the theme of my ramble... But I'm sure you did because you're really smart... Anyway, I'm sorry, Brianna. I'm so sorry and I would really love to have a chance to make it up to you. So... please? Please call me back? END OF MESSAGES. TO DELETE YOUR MESSAGE, PRESS 7, TO..."

My eyes went wide when I heard Alex hit a button, so he quickly said, "Baby, I was just saving his message."

He moved to pass me my phone, but I remained frozen in my spot. I was too shell shocked by what I had heard to even think.

"Brie? Baby? Are you okay?"

My head started to shake from side to side on its own before I answered, "Play it again."

"What?" He asked as he moved across the bed to where I was standing.

I was still completely immobile as I quietly repeated, "Please play it again? I... I just want to make sure I'm not hearing things."

"Alright," he replied with a sly smile. "On one condition." I frowned at him causing him to laugh as he added, "Come back to bed, Brie. You're starting to shiver. Please?"

I stared at him for a second while his words tried to register in my mind. He waited patiently while he watched me try to think. The only thing he had done to try to convince me to follow his wishes was to flip the comforter back as an invitation.

Once his words finally got through the fog in my brain, I looked down the length of my body and startled in my place. Normally being nakes in front of Alex didn't bother me at all, but for some reason it didn't feel right to me in this moment. It probably had something to do with hearing my half-brother's voice that made me feel awkward, but really, who knew?

My feet carried me back to the bed while I thought that question to myself. As soon as I was on the mattress, I cuddled into Alex's side. He pulled the covers up and over our laps before he turned to kiss my head.

"Are you sure?" He nearly whispered with his lips still hovering over my hair.

I nodded against his shoulder replying, "Yes, please?"

"Of course. You know I would do anything for you, Brie."

"I do. That's just part of why I love you."

I sat up so that I could turn and kiss him properly. He pet the side of my head while he accepted the gentle embrace. I felt myself relaxing into his touch, so I almost missed hearing Mike's message the second time around. When the message ended, we both pulled back and just stared into each other's eyes for a few breaths.

"I have to be hallucinating," I finally said, so quietly that Alex almost couldn't hear me.

"Why do you say that?" His concern for me was plain in his tone and facial expression.

I smiled to myself and replied, "Mike Lawson just apologized to me and I have recorded evidence of it. Tell me that isn't enough to make you question YOUR sanity."

He barked out a laugh and then pulled me in for another kiss. "And THAT is part of why I love you."

"What? My wicked sense of humor?"

We shared another chuckle as I once again settled myself against his side. This time he had moved further down the mattress so that we could be covered by a sheet and I could use his chest as a pillow. Neither of us spoke because neither of us felt the need to do so. Although he was the easiest person on the planet for me to talk with, we still had times (like now) when we fell into a comfortable silence and could enjoy just being together.

Alex started running his hand up and down my arm and asked, "What are you thinking?"

I shrugged under his hand as I answered, "I'm wondering if the contracts I mocked up can be used for someone else. It'd be a shame for all that hard work to just go to waste."

"Brie? Seriously? That's all you're thinking about? Work?"

"Yeah... well no..." I pushed off his chest so that I could give him a quick, deep kiss. "I was also thanking all of the angels in heaven that my boyfriend is such a skilled lover."

He laughed into my next kiss. "Although I wasn't looking for an ego stroke, thank you. But I'm only half the reason why our sex life is so good. But... that's not what I meant, I was..."

"Mike's message," I interrupted as I reclaimed my phone from him. "I honestly don't know what I think about it yet. I think I'm still kind of in shock because never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd hear that from him. Ask me again after I've slept on it and I might have a better answer for you."

"Alright, but that was a pretty good answer."

I smiled as I turned my attention to my phone so that I could check who some of the other text messages were sent from. "Oh shit!" I breathed out as I sat up straighter.

"Brie? What's wrong?" He started to move forward but stopped suddenly and I can only assume it was because of the look on my face. "Baby? What happened?"

"I missed his call." Alex's frown told me that what I heard in my head isn't what I said out loud. "Sorry, not HIS... ugh. Let me try that again. I missed a call from Mr. Cecil and I have a new voicemail."

"Okay, not ideal, but you've let his calls go to voicemail before, right?"

"Valid point, but after hearing... my other message, it means I might have to work tonight."

Alex reached out to run his fingers up and down my spine when he heard me hesitate before I didn't say my half-brother's name. When I paused again, he moved so that his chest was flush with my back. I remained seated with my back straight and in near perfect posture, so Alex wrapped himself around my torso and put his chin on my shoulder.

"Baby, it's too late to go back to the office. Plus..."

"No, not like that. When we left the office, all of his travel arrangements were based on him staying in Chicago for a few days, y'know for publicity for the trade? Now that the trade fell through..."

"You'll have to change some of the reservations," he finished for me.

"Exactly," I answered as I deflated and slouched in my spot.

"Alright, but..." Alex started to kiss my neck and shoulder. He worked his way back to the spot where my neck and shoulder connected and gave it a soft bite. "But you don't have to leave this bed... or even get dressed for that matter to change reservations online."

His mouth quickly found the mark he had made on my left shoulder blade earlier in the night, so I held my breath in anticipation. Once his teeth started to press themselves into my flesh again, I completely lost my ability to breathe. We both knew that he was trying to convince me of the validity of his last statement, but I knew deep down that I couldn't stay in bed with him. He was much too talented with his mouth for me to be able to focus on my work.

"Alex.." I called out in a breathy voice. "Alex... I can't stay in bed..."

"Sure you can," he countered as he peppered my upper back with kisses.

"Babe... Babe... I'll have to leave to get my laptop so I can get everything done faster," I replied before I slipped out of his hold and stood up of the bed. "Hence having to get out of bed." Before I could get too far away, Alex grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back onto the bed. "Alex..."

"Shh..." He hushed the rest of my protest as he got off the bed. Once he had me wrapped up in his arms with my back once again pressed against his chest, Alex lifted my left hand to look at my phone and asked, "But why don't we listen to that voicemail before you do anything rash...? Like put on clothes?"

He once again dialed through to my voicemail and pressed 0236 before I could fully catch up with him.

"Hey Brianna. I'm sure by now you've heard the news. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to call you before it broke on ESPN. It's just a shame all of your hard work... Anyways, we can talk about that more when I get back to the San Diego office. Which is the primary reason for my call. Since I'm already this close to the Eastern Time zone, I've decided to do a side trip to Boston and New York. Right now I don't know how long I'll be on the road, but I'll let you know as soon as I have a timeline established. Which brings me to the next reason for this call. I don't expect you to go into the office until I get back there. I'm already working on my new travel arrangements, so don't worry about that either. Enjoy your time off, Brianna. Like I said before, you've more than earned it and I'm really going to hate the months that you're away finishing school. I'll try my best to call you tomorrow with an update. Have a good night."

I remained frozen in Alex's arms as he saved the message and attached my phone to the power cord. I honestly couldn't say anything yet because I was too stunned to form any coherent thoughts. Alex notice that right away and used it to his advantage. He easily picked me up and carried me over to our bed.

As he started to tuck me under the covers, I suddenly became fully alert and asked, "Alex? Do you know what this means?"

His hands paused mid-motion and he tried not to look too hopeful as he replied in an unsure tone, "Umm... maybe?"

I pulled down on his shoulders so I could kiss him before I answered against his lips, "I don't have to get up early tomorrow. AND I can go to your game."

"I like the sound of that," he replied as he rolled me onto my back and engulfed my lips with his own.


	16. I Have Lost My Illusions

I Have Lost My Illusions:

As we waited for the last out in tonight's game, I started to chew on the cuticle around my left thumb's nail. I thought I had kicked that habit my senior year of high school, but apparently that wasn't the case. I guess it only reappeared when I was face with a horrible dilemma and I couldn't swim away my frustration. Tonight, that meant that I was sitting here in my seat debating if I was going to wait for my boyfriend by the clubhouse or out in his truck. After missing so many of his games, it didn't feel right not to meet him downstairs.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I was only vaguely aware of the cheering happening around me. I also didn't notice the excited buzz from the fans around me at the Padres getting the win and Mike Lawson being behind the plate. It wasn't like both of those things automatically went together, but it didn't take a genius to know that having the catcher 'back' added to the excitement of the win (not that he ever really left).

As I made my way to the clubhouse, my phone started to vibrate, so I pulled it out to look at it.

'He knows I heard his message.'

I let out a loud sigh as I typed out, 'Is he pissed? I mean... did it make things weird btwn U 2?'

'No... well no weirder than usual. But I think I'm the only one who know he didn't veto the trade.'

'Shit! SORRY!'

'Not your fault... or the reason I msg'd you.'

'Oh? Really? Do tell Mr. Ellis?'

'I just wanted to let you know that I don't expect you to be waiting for me in the hallway. You can wait in the truck... NOT that you need my permission, it's just... I'm good either way so do whatever makes you comfortable.'

'I 3 you!'

'3 you too'

Well that answered that. How could I not be the dutiful and attentive girlfriend and wait with all of the other significant others for my boyfriend? He deserved that and so much more from me.

As soon as I made it to the familiar hallway, Evelyn walked up to me and gave me a hug. "So, this is a good sign, right?"

I didn't relax into her hold, nor did I try to move out of it as I replied, "I'm really not sure."

She pushed me back and then pulled me into one of the side hallways so we would have some privacy when she asked, "How did you find out?"

Evelyn didn't have to say anything else because I could read between the line. Despite my conflicted feelings, I genuinely smiled as I replied, "He left me a voicemail, so I found out from Mike."

"You mean, you're...?"

"No, he called me before Davis could, so I officially hear it from him. But, we're not... y'know or anything..."

"But it's a good start, right?"

I started to nod, but paused when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I expected to see another text message form my boyfriend, so I was genuinely surprised to see it was a phone call coming through.

"Brie?"

I turned to look at Evelyn before I realized that I really needed to answer my phone and speak to the person calling me. "Shit. Sorry Evie, I really..."

"Go ahead," she interrupted with a smile. "But you might want to get away from here so that you can hear them better."

I quietly thanked her as I hurried down the hallway answering, "Hey Mister... uhh... Hi Davis. How's Chicago treating you?"

What neither Evelyn nor I noticed was that Mike had emerged from the clubhouse just as I turned and hurried away from the crowd to answer my phone. She still wasn't sure where he and I stood on the whole 'Brianna versus Mike' situation, but she knew that things were good between Alex and me, so that made her happy. However, that being said, she knew that I was hurting because my relationship with my brother was strained and she hated seeing that happen.

It was with that last thought in mind that she gave him the familiar nod to let him know where I was heading when she did make eye contact with him. Who knew that after all of the times that I had run away from my... well from Gibby that I could make the trip so easily and quickly. I was able to make it back to the stands and found a seat to talk with my boss without breaking a sweat.

Thankfully Mr. Cecil did most of the talking, so I really wasn't aware of Mike calling out my name because I was concentrating on listening to my boss. I sort of caught a glimpse of him out the corner of my eye, but I couldn't really tell who it was, nor did I do anything to investigate.

"Alright. Yes, that sounds good, Sir. And Mr. Cecil... err... Davis, please don't hesitate to let me know if I can help with anything else at any time. I really don't mind."

"I know you don't, but I've got it all covered."

"Okay, but if you..."

"I'm fine, Brianna. Now please, enjoy the rest of your time off."

"I will. Talk to you soon and have a safe trip."

I sat staring out over the field while I mulled over my conversation with my boss. It amazed me that with every conversation we had, Davis Cecil was treating less like an intern and more like a colleague. Although I had really hoped for that outcome, I never really allowed myself to believe that it would happen, especially not this quickly. The fact that it had happened made me want to pinch myself.

I was lost in my thoughts with my phone still pressed to my ear when I heard, "Don't worry, I get it Brie. You don't want to talk to me. You know what? It's fine, you really don't need to hide from me, we can be adults about this."

I turned my head to look at Mike and made a point to exaggerate the motion of terminating a call. He had the good grace to look embarrassed, so I remained silent. When you're winning, it usually worked better if you didn't say anything at all and let your opponent stew in their own juices.

But Mike didn't do well with silences. I knew that so it came as no surprise that he broke first and quietly said, "You were on the phone... you came up here so that you could hear them better."

Although he was basically stating the obvious, I still nodded and replied, "I wasn't sure what Mr. Cecil might be needing from me, so I didn't want any distractions in case it was important."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Mind me asking what he wanted?"

My right hand started to cramp up because of how I was holding my phone with my new-ish injuries, so I had to use my left hand to pry my fingers off of it as I answered, "He decided to stay in Chicago for a couple of days and the he's going to head to Boston and New York and now he's added Philadelphia to the list of cities he's going to check in his... hey... HEY! What are...? Excuse me..."

"How the hell did you get these?" He asked over my words as he held up my right hand to show me my bruised knuckles. "He didn't...? I mean I don't remember seeing a mark on Ellis, so he didn't...?"

"What? Alex? HELL NO!" I snapped as I snatched my hand out of his hold. "He hasn't done anything but take care of me. How dare you accuse him of something as heinous as that!"

"Fine, he's a fucking saint. How DID you get those bruises?"

I refused to look up at Mike because I knew he was just worried about me, which made my immature actions all that more embarrassing, as I mumbled, "I punched a cement wall."

"I'm sorry, you what?"

Since I still refused to look at him, Mike gently gripped my chin to move my face so that I was looking up at him. HE smiled that sincere, caring (I used to call it loving) smile that very few people get to see once our eyes met. "That's better. Can you please repeat that last comment for me?"

I grit my teeth and almost didn't answer him. But that would be petty and I really didn't want to start a new argument with him.

"I punched a cement wall."

His eyes widened ever so slightly before he asked, "You punched a...? Why the fuck would you do something that stupid?"

"Because I'd get arrested... or even worse, lose my job if I punched you in the face."

"If you punched...?" His eyes widened again. "You did this yesterday?"

Since he made it a question and he sounded genuinely concerned, I nodded and replied, "Yeah, I did. Yesterday... well it really didn't go according to plan and I got frustrated."

"I can see that. So, what did you tell your boss about it?"

I smiled softly as I ran my left index finger over my damaged knuckles. "Lucky for me he flew out to Chicago before I did it. And now he's doing his tour of the Eastern time zone, which means I don't have to be back at work until he's back some time next week or so. The worst of it should be healed by then, so there really isn't any point in worrying him about it."

"That sounds like a pretty good plan. But if it's broken, it'll take longer than a week to heal."

"It's not broken." That statement earned me a stern look from my half-brother that made me chuckle. "Alex was worried about that too, so he forced me to show it to the team trainer when I dropped him off earlier today. He said that if the swelling didn't get any worse during the day then it's probably just deep bruising. I already knew that from some of the courses I've taken as electives, but I know Alex felt better having him confirm it."

"Seriously? You've really studied anatomy and all that?"

I shook my head and almost didn't answer him again. But my mouth is stupid and sometimes does whatever it wants. Thus, I heard myself saying, "I want to work with athletes. Their bodies are their commodities, so I want to really understand how are bodies are supposed to work. That way if they try to hide an injury from me, I'll be able to tell."

"And that's also where you got all of your yoga mumbo jumbo from?"

"Hey!" I cried out indignantly. I moved to playfully punch him in the arm, but I stopped myself before my battered knuckles could touch him. I made sure to avoid making eye contact, so I missed seeing the sad look he was now wearing because of my hesitation. "Don't knock the yoga. Since Alex started doing it with me, he's been hitting much better and is more limber in the outfield."

"Doing 'it', eh?"

My eyes shot up to Mike's face in time to see him waggle his eyebrows. I let out a playful scoff before I answered, "Don't be gross. You know exactly what I meant. And don't be jealous just because you're an old dog who can't learn new tricks."

"Maybe I just need more instruction."

There was no humor in Mike's tone right then. As much as I sometimes hated 'cocky-bastard Mike', he baffled me much less than 'earnest Mike'. Since I was so conflicted about my relationship with my half-brother, I knew that those feelings would show when I answered, "I just... I don't know..."

"You don't know what?"

The emotion I heard in his question made me hesitate for a second before I said, "I heard your message and I'm just not sure about… us. I want to forgive you, but I just don't know that I can."

"Three strikes, I'm out," he commented softly.

"Something like that, I guess. I'm sorry, but I need more than a day to figure out what I want to do… how I feel. I'm not trying to be a dick about this, I'm just being honest. Plus, if we do get to that point, I'd rather not hash this out here at the stadium… especially in the stands."

"Right… of course. I guess that means I should leave you alone then."

As he started to walk away from me, I suddenly heard myself call out, "Hey!" He turned and gave me a hopeful look as I added, "You apologized and that means a LOT to me. I'm not saying never… I swear I haven't written you off… I just mean 'not yet', okay?"

"Okay. And I get the whole not wanting to talk it out in public. Fuck, I should have known better. Alright… well you know where I live and we can always talk it out there… unless you'd prefer somewhere more neutral. I mean, when… if you're ready, that is."

I shook my head with an amused smile then answered, "Maybe. I mean it could work… I don't…"

"You don't know! That's okay, Brie, just it's a suggestion. But either way, you know where to find me."

"I promise you'll be the first to know when I figure everything out, Mike." He snorted in a laugh prompting me to ask, "What? What'd I say to earn that smirk?"

"You finally called me 'Mike' again. I'm hoping that you dropping the 'Mister Lawson' shit is a good sign for me."

I smiled because I hadn't really noticed that I had been doing that to him at all. "Well… I guess you aren't totally wrong."

He smiled and then turned to head back to the clubhouse without saying another word. I sat down on the arm of a seat in the aisle and watched him leave. My mind went blank for a second, but as soon as he disappeared from my view my thoughts started to race. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing for me to forgive him. At least this time he called me first to apologize, I didn't have to chase him or have someone else intervene on my behalf. Maybe that meant that things would be different this time. Maybe…

"Brie? Baby?" Alex called out softly as he cupped my face in both of his hands. "Hey, what has you so spooked, Beautiful?"

He shook me gently until my eyes focused on him. "I think I have to forgive him."

Alex startled slightly in his place before he squatted down in front of me so that he had to look up at me and said, "You don't HAVE to do anything, Baby."

I smiled and stroked his cheek as I replied, "Fine. I think I SHOULD forgive him. Better?"

He didn't react to my attempt at being humorous, so I traced his lips with my left index finger and asked, "Smooth Talker…? Has the cat got your tongue? I never bodes well when you are silent, unless you're sleeping. But even then…"

"I can still sweet talk you, even in my sleep," he finished our inside joke. "Sorry Baby, I just wanted to give you time to get your thoughts out fully."

Both of my thumbs ran over his top and bottom lips as I held his face in my hands. "Well… that's as far as my thoughts have gone. I…I don't hate him or anything."

"Yeah, I know," he replied as if I had made it a question.

He sounded so uncertain that I emphatically added in a defensive tone, "I DON'T. Just because I've been

angry with his behavior doesn't mean that I hate him."

"I know!" Alex nearly shouted as he stood up to hug me. "I really do know that you don't hate him. Hell, I honestly don't think you're capable of hating anyone that you care about."

I snuggled further into his chest as I replied, "I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure the way I feel about Gibb…"

"Right… him…" He squeezed me in his arms. "He doesn't count. You never actually loved him. Plus, he's a douchewad and nobody likes him."

I laughed and kissed his neck before I settled against his chest again. "So, there's specific criteria, huh?"

"Absolutely there is!"

"Sort of how I can list off the reasons why I love you so much, I can do the same for why I never loved him?"

"No, not really like that." I pushed back against his chest so that I could give him wide eyes. "Hey… Hey, it's not what you think. I would just rather hear you list off the reasons why you love me instead of talking about some asshat who doesn't deserve to share the air you breathe."

"Alex," I laughed out as I went to my tiptoes so that I could kiss him. After I was back, flat on my feet, I pinched his stomach then teased, "I think we need to cut down on you 'Supernatural' consumption, Mr. Ellis."

"What? I thought you liked Dean."

"I do… but I like Alex Ellis better."

"Ooh… That's a REALLY good answer."

With that said, he wrapped his hands around my waist and threw me over his left shoulder. Had I not been completely shocked by the fact that he was attempting to imitate a firefighter, I probably would have been proud of the fact that he didn't throw me over the should of his throwing arm. But at the same time, I couldn't believe that I was getting an eyeful of his back and shapely rear, which rendered me mute for a second.

Once he started moving, my mind finally cleared. I thumped my closed fist against his aforementioned well-toned ass and nearly shrieked, "Alex! Let me down! NOW!"

"Nope, I want to make sure I get you home as soon as possible."

"ALEX!" I yelled out incredulously. Damn, where was security when you needed them? "Alex, stop! If you get hurt… think of your contract!"

He quickly put me down on the stairs in front of him. It put me so that I was eye level with him. Since we had been joking around, which was par for the course when we were alone together, the hurt look I saw in his eye caught me off guard.

"Are you saying that you wouldn't want to date me if I wasn't playing in the Bigs?" He asked in a truly affected tone. "Are you…? Are you really just a cleat chaser?"

"What?! NO!" I answered in wide-eyed shock. "NO! Alex, I love you for YOU! You are truly inspiring and the most amazing human being I have ever met. I just… baseball is important to you and I don't want you to be the next Aaron Boone because of me."

I was nearly ready to sob when I saw his eyebrows knit together in a thoughtful scowl because I thought that my feelings for him had been clear. I thought he knew how much I genuinely adored him, but now I was starting to think I hadn't shown him it enough. There had to be something that I could do to show him how wrong he was about my feelings for him.

I opened my again to apologize when a devilish grin started to spread across his face. Before he could let out the first chuckle, I slapped his chest and nearly shouted, "You are such an asshole!"

"Brie…! Brie…! Baby! It was a joke!" He called out as he sprinted up the stairs after me. "Brie…! Wait up!"

When he finally made it back down to the clubhouse, I was calmly talking with Evelyn and Ginny with my back purposefully the direction from which he would be coming.

"Wow. So, you really had another interview with Rachel Patrick?" I asked, not even attempting to hid the genuine awe in my tone. "How did it go?"

"She's a great interviewer and one of the few reporters who I feel comfortable with on camera," Ginny answered with a smile. "But I'm sure you know all about her."

I shook my head and tilted my chin down so that I wouldn't be looking at either of them as I said, "I've only ever seen her on TV. Her and… they were divorced before I figured out that we might be related."

"Right… of course. I should have remembered that," the pitcher apologized, sounding and looking beyond embarrassed and contrite.

I took a step forward and touched her forearm to get her attention. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Ginny. I actually take it as a compliment that everyone forgets how new I am in their lives. Please, don't give it another thought, okay?"

Evelyn hooked her left arm around my neck to hug me into her side saying, "And that's why we need to hang out together more." She released me and I had to rub my neck to get the feeling back into it. "But just not tonight…" She smiled as her husband emerged from the clubhouse. "Because I already have a date."

As she moved towards Blip, Ginny an I shared a bemused look, followed by a good-natured eyeroll. That turned into a bout of comfortable laughter that erased any lingering feelings of discomfort between Ginny and I. Since the first time that we hung out together, I couldn't get over how effortlessly we felt at ease with each other. Maybe it was because she was a baseball player, so I could treat her like one of the guys and that made it easier for us to be friends. Then again, maybe it was something unique to her. I honestly don't know, but I didn't see the point of potentially ruining a good friendship just to fulfill my curiosity.

"Well…" Ginny started until she saw two arms snake around my waist.

Alex hugged me back into his body asking, "Baker? Do you mind if I steal my girlfriend back now that you have her laughing again?"

"Girl…?" Her eyes widened as I started to relax against Alex's chest so that he could put his chin on my shoulder. "That means…" Suddenly her right hand was balled into a fist and she managed to hook her punch around my body so that she only hit Alex's side. "No wonder he didn't double your fine for talking back to him!"

"Actually," he retorted with a chuckle. "I'm still shocked he didn't triple it."

"That too," she agreed with a laugh. She noticed that my cheeks had turned pink and that I kept my eyes securely trained on my feet, so she tried to change the subject by saying, "Well, Alex becoming a yogi make a lot more sense now."

Alex hugged me tightly as he said, "What can I say? When you live with such an amazing instructor, you pick up a thing or two."

"I'll bet," Ginny replied with another bark of a laugh. Something behind us caught her attention, so she quickly added, "Sorry, but I've got to go. There's something I need to get Elliott's help with… but we'll talk soon! You'll be here tomorrow, right?"

I smile then answered, "Absolutely. I don't want to miss another one of your starts this season."

"Perfect! I'll catch up with you tomorrow."


	17. I Have Drowned In Your Words

I Have Drowned In Your Words:

The next morning, I woke up to the scent of freshly brewed coffee and bacon. Although it smelled amazing, our bed was so warm and cozy that I was loathed to get out of it. With that last thought at the forefront of my mind, I pulled the cover more tightly around my body and snuggled into my pillow to try to fall asleep.

Just as I was about to return to a peaceful slumber, I felt Alex press his lips against mine. At first, I tried to pretend that I was in too deep of a sleep to reciprocate, but Alex wasn't easily fooled. He persisted and even caught my bottom lip between his teeth and bit down on it gently.

He laughed into my mouth when he heard me moan as he bit my lip. Normally, I would have gotten annoyed and give him a piece of my mind for laughing at me, but I just didn't have the strength in me to fight him. More importantly, I didn't have the will. I only had a few more days to share with him without work getting in the way and I didn't want to spend a single second of them in a stupid, useless argument with him.

I snaked my arm out from the cocoon of blankets to wrap it around his shoulders. I smiled into our kiss when I didn't feel anything but his bare skin once I started to hug him. To show him my appreciation, I moved my kisses from his lips to his face. He lifted his chin up knowing that I would be moving my embraces to his neck. From there I started to move my mouth towards his chest. Since he was kneeling on the floor, I couldn't move past his collarbone, so I let my kisses linger there.

That's also where I playfully bit him. It wasn't even hard enough to make a mark, but it did make my point. He slowly stood up so that my embraces could move down his torso. I lingered at his belly button and wrapped my arm around his waist in anticipation of what I was going to do to him next.

Like the good boy that he is, Alex stood there patiently with his arms hanging limply at his sides. Or maybe he had them crossed over his chest. Honestly, I didn't know for sure because I had my eyes closed and I didn't plan on opening them any time soon. There was something about exploring his body with my eyes closed that made every touch feel more intimate and erotic.

After spending almost too much time worshipping his rock-hard abs, I moved my mouth downward. My mouth started to watcher in anticipation, so my kisses started to become sloppy as they continued along their path. Sure. the scent of bacon was heavy in the air and on his body, but I knew that it was all Alex that was causing that reaction in me.

As I made my final descent, I had to swipe the back of my hand over my mouth to brush away some of my excess saliva. Alex let out a breathy laugh as he watched me because he knew that I enjoyed pleasuring him with my mouth as much as he enjoyed receiving it. To show his gratitude, I felt Alex bunch up my hair in both of his hands. That earned him a not too soft bite on the sensitive skin of his navel. I wasn't as careful about not leaving a mark there as I had with his collarbone because it was highly unlikely that his teammates would see a bit mark below the belt line. Plus, if any of them did catch a glimpse of it, none of them would question him, nor would they try to get a better look because that would make their share shower time very awkward. Even more importantly, if someone did try to get a closer look, it would open them up for a myriad of questions that no player would want to get into while they played in the Bigs.

With my teeth still pressed into his hipbone, I felt his palm land on the back of my head. At first, he just stroked my hair, but when I bit down harder on his flesh, his fingers buried themselves into my hair.

"Brie," he breathed out with a stuttered breath.

I wasn't sure what exactly he wanted, but I didn't let it distract me. I then peppered the flesh I had just abused with a few soft embraces. His hand returned to stroking the back of my head, so I continued on my course to my original destination because I figured he had given himself over to my plans.

Once I moved my head back to finally take in his length, I felt his hold on my hair tighten. And it was more in the way of him trying to get my attention and not that he was getting overly aroused. So, I pushed back against his hold and forced my eyes to open to look up into his face.

"Baby…" he started in a breathy voice. "You know I love when you go down on me as much as you love to do it, but…" I started to stroke his incredibly rigid length and kissed it gently causing him to quickly curse, "Fuck… Fuck, you are good with your mouth, but… But I have to go into the park early, so if you finish me with your mouth now, I…"

He groaned softly when I squeezed the organ I was holding a little harder than I meant to as I asked, "You're saying we don't have time for both today?"

"Sorry, but we don't."

I let go of him and scooted back on the bed to lay down. He moved on top of me as quickly as he could in his current condition. I couldn't help but to let out a breathy laugh while I watched him because he looked so cute trying to run around the room while he was completely buck naked and fully aroused. Just then it hit me that he had started our breakfast without any clothes on and an image of him standing at the stove in nothing but a frilly apron filled my head and caused me to laugh.

"Not really helping my ego, Babe."

It tried not to laugh again at the look on his face, but he was just so cute that I couldn't help it. "I'm sorry, I just had the funniest thought tonight."

"Oh yeah?" He asked as he climbed on top of me.

"Yeah. We need to buy you a frilly apron."

When I went up to the 'Will Call' window, the clerk greeted me by name. I don't know why that surprised me, but I definitely stumbled over my words when I returned the greeting.

As she passed me the envelope with my name on it, she paused then said, "What the...?"

"Is something wrong, Lois?"

My questioned seemed to startle her out of her thoughts. She tried to give me an easy smile as she answered, "Sorry. No, nothing's wrong, per se. It's just… well… there's two envelopes here with your name on it."

She held them both up and I recognized the handwriting on both immediately. Lois must have noticed what the look on my face meant because she passed me both envelopes saying, "Looks like you get your choice of seats tonight. Enjoy the game."

I took them with a quiet thank you and then I made my way to the gates. The first envelope definitely was Alex's writing, which came as no surprise, but the second one had me stumped.

 _Why would Mike leave me a ticket? Is this like a peace offering?_

I remained lost in my own thoughts as I passed my messenger bag styled purse over to be checked at security and gave one of the tickets to the attendant to scan. I didn't really become fully alert or aware of my surroundings until I tripped walking up the stairs and had one of the Petco Park workers catch my arm. Luckily, I was able to easily convince him that I was fine and just a bit of a klutz so that I could make my way to my seat without any further assistance.

Which brought me back to my earlier predicament that had caused me to be so distracted. Whose ticket should I use? I pulled them both out and noticed that the one in Alex's envelope was the same seat I had satin for most of the games I had attended this season. Not a bad seat, but it wasn't as close to the field as the one in Mike's envelope. Well, I guess that settled it. It had been a long while since I had sat as close as Mike's seat, so I figured it would be nice to live like the other half again.

I always tried to arrive to the park early enough to watch BP, which also meant that I made it to my seats long before anyone else in my section did. I guess other wives and girlfriends weren't as big of fans as I am. Or maybe it was something else. Either way, I got to my seat and was able to settle into it without anyone else being in the section, let alone my row.

"Brie?"

I turned towards the confused sounding voice coming from the field and smiled. He ran towards my section, so I got up and walked down to meet him.

"Did you ask for a seat upgrade?" Alex asked with an unsure smile.

I shook my head answering, "Nope, I didn't ask for better seats. But it appears that your team captain is getting better tickets than he used to for the people he signs in."

"Team…? You don't…?"

"Yep. Both you and Mike left me tickets. Since I figure I'll be forgiving him eventually, I thought that accepting his peace offering would be a good first step."

"And you get a better seat to boot."

"Well, it does pay to know people in high places."

He laughed at that then he leaned up to give me a quick peck on the lips. "So, should I invite him out for dinner after the game?"

"Let's see how the game goes. If he or Ginny has a bad game, he might be cranky. We've already had enough missteps, so let's try to avoid more and just play it by ear."

His smile darkened slightly for a second before he answered, "Brains and beauty. How did I get so lucky?"

"I ask myself that every day, Smooth Talker."

We shared another quick kiss before he turned and ran towards the batting cage. I started to turn to make my way back to my seat when I heard, "You got the ticket?"

I pivoted on my right foot to find Mike walking closer to where I was standing. I nodded replying, "Yeah, I did. Thanks, but you didn't..."

"I know he probably..."

"He did... does, but still, I appreciate the..."

"It's no problem. I just..."

He trailed off there and then we ended up just staring at each other awkwardly.

After a couple of breaths, I shook my head and said, "This is stupid." Before he could respond, I wrapped him in a hug and said, "Thank you, Mike. I appreciate your thoughtfulness."

He grinned then said, "So? Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

I looked over my shoulder at my seat. 'Well... this is a really good start." I turned back to look at him and very earnestly said, "Let's call it a step in the right direction."

He gave me a soft smile. "Can't say I hate the sound of that."

"Me either. Have a good game."

And have a good game he did. Well, they all did. Ginny was on her way to pitching the Padres' first no hitter and everyone was going the extra mile to help her realize that feat. Mike was even making catches that should have been impossible for someone his age to make. And after the look he shared with Rachel Patrick (next to whom I was now sitting, which told me we got our tickets the same way) gave me an indication of why there was an extra spring in his step today.

"Ooh, he'll be feeling that after the game," Rachel commented to no one in particular after Mike slid across the warning track to make the out.

I couldn't help but to chuckle as I replied, "Thank God, it's Rosa's scheduled day to work tomorrow, so she can baby him."

Rachel stopped mid-clap and turned to look at me. Once I saw how surprised and chagrinned she looked, I caught onto her confusion and realized my error.

"And that makes me sound like a creepy stalker... which I'm not!" I closed my eyes and let out a sigh before I thrust my hand forward to say, "Let me try that again. My name is Brie Grissom, I'm..."

"Mike's sister. He told me a little bit about you. Well, he rambled, but it didn't make much sense at the time."

"That must have been the night of the Nike party when he drank so much he was cursing whiskey and its maker the next day."

That made her laugh with a smile and she sounded a lot more relaxed when she answered, "That's the one. Oh... I'm Rachel..."

"Patrick," I finished for her. "I'm a fan of your work, The story you did on Ginny that aired last night is one of my favorite interviews I've seen with her."

"Oh? Thank you."

"You're welcome." That back and forth had been cordial, polite and comfortable, but after that the silence between us felt kind of strained. Ever since she sat down beside me I had wanted to talk with her, but for some reason the words wouldn't come to me. Now that we had talked briefly, I was once again at a loss for words.

"So? Do you think she can do it?" I turned to look a question at the reporter. "Ginny... Do you think she can do 'it'?"

"Oh, that. Given everything else she's accomplished this season, I wouldn't start betting against her now."

"That was a very diplomatic response. What is it that you're studying at school?"

Before I could answer her something caught my attention out the corner of my eye. Practically the entire crowd let out a gasp and jumped to their feet. Since my seats were on the first base line and the action on the field happening between home and third, I didn't have a clear view of it. All I could see was Ginny sitting on the grass with Mike standing behind her calling their trainer out.

Blip started sprinting towards the infield, but the other two outfielders lingered at their positions. When I stopped to think about it that made sense. She was a part of Blip's extended family so there was no question that he would want to check on her if she was hurt. That isn't to say Alex and his other teammates didn't care about her, it was just different when it was family involved.

They eventually did start to make their way in from the outfield, so I waved to catch Alex's attention. Thankfully we had talked before the game so his gaze wandered to my section without me having to try too hard to get his attention.

"So how bad do you think it is?" I asked him in a hushed tone.

"Looked to me like she went down hard, but honestly I don't know." He looked around to check that no one was paying attention to us before he added, "If you go down now, Joey will probably let you sneak into the clubhouse to check for yourself."

I gave him a surprised look because I was sure that there was more to it, but he just couldn't get into it right now. He jutted his chin towards the Padres' dugout and mouth the word 'go' before he turned and trotted towards the knot of players in the infield.


	18. I Have Left My Confusion To A Cynical Wo

I Have Left My Confusion To A Cynical World:

True to Alex's suspicion, Joey did let me sneak into the clubhouse. Ginny was on a stretcher with Mike, Al, Blip and Evelyn all hovering around her while the paramedics and trainers tended to her.

I moved towards Evelyn to quietly ask her, "Where's Amelia?"

"Don't know," she replied without moving her eyes off Ginny.

Before I could stop myself, I reached out and grabbed her arm and hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by that?"

That got her attention. I quickly released her arm when I saw the look of pure fury in her eye. When she saw the frightened look on my face, her expression softened significantly. We were close enough together that she just had to lean in slightly so that no one else would be privy to our conversation.

"All I know is she wasn't in the suite during the game and Elliott is still trying to get a hold of her on the phone."

"What? She...? She missed the game? That doesn't sound like her."

Evie shrugged then turned her attention back to the crowd as she said, "I don't know what else to say, but that's the truth."

 _Amelia missed Ginny's start?_ I pulled out my phone and tried her number. It went straight to voicemail, so I figured Amelia had either turned it off or was talking with someone else. My eyes immediately moved to where Elliott was standing and talking on the phone.

I started to make my way to his side but paused when I heard Alex call our, "Hey Ski? The ump gave the ten minute warning for us to take the field, unless we're sending in subs for some starters."

Al gave Mike and Blip a look, but it was Ginny who answered, "No, you guys go out and finish the game. There's nothing you can do to help me now, so go."

Mike nodded then said, "If you say so, Rook."

"I do. So, go, Old Man."

Blip squeezed her left forearm and said, "We'll make sure to get you the "W" Gin."

She smiled. "You better."

While that was going on Alex had silently called me over to his side. Before he could get out what he wanted to say, Al called out, "Alright boys, let's get back on the field."

Evelyn had already said her goodbyes and left, so I figured I should do the same, but Alex stopped me by holding up his hand. I thought he was going to tell why he had beckoned me over, but instead he called out, "Hey Baker? Did you want your cell phone?"

Ginny looked over her shoulder at us and replied, "Actually, yeah... Yes, I would, Ellis. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem, I'll go grab it quickly."

Suddenly I felt my arm being pulled as I was being forced to follow my boyfriend to Ginny's closet. I was so confused by his behavior that I called out in a hushed voice, "Alex? What the hell is going on?"

He finally let go of my arm while he looked through Ginny's cubby for her phone.

"She and Amelia had a huge fight before the game. Amelia left in a huff and Ginny looked like she was out for blood when she finally came out of here." He shoved her phone into my hand saying, "You should go with her to the hospital. She might fill in the blanks for you."

"But..."

"I can't stay and argue. At least take her her phone for me."

He quickly kissed me and sprinted through the clubhouse back to the field. Ginny noticed his swift exit, so she tried to get his attention by calling out his name.

"I have your phone," I replied as I walked over to her side. She took it with a smile as I added, "I know it sucks being stuck at the hospital alone... Do you want some company?"

"Don't you want to watch the rest of the game?"

I shrugged and replied, "I came to watch Ginny Baker pitch."

That earned me a smile. "What about Alex?"

"Him? I see him all hours of the day and night. It'll be nice to have a break from him."

One of the paramedics cleared his throat and announced, "We're ready to transport you Ms. Baker."

She looked at him and then back at me to ask, "Are you sure he won't mind."

"I'm sure." I then turned to the paramedics and said, I mean if that's okay with you guys."

"If Ms. Baker want you to come, we have no objections."

"Yes, I would. Thanks, Brie."

Someone from the team had already give them a copy of Ginny's insurance papers, so there wasn't much for me to do but hold her belongings while they took her in for tests. They had wanted to cut off her jersey, but Ginny had fought them tooth and nail against that. I helped them extract her from it and was tasked with guarding it while they did all of their tests on her.

"Thanks again for keeping me company Brie," Ginny said as she shifted in her stretcher.

I moved her ice pack so that it was once again covering her injury answering, "It's no problem. I've been stuck in the hospital enough times alone to know how much it sucks, so I try not to leave my friends in that position." She gave me a suspicious look that caused me to laugh before adding, "What can I say? I'm a klutz. But the last time it was an emergency appendectomy. My friends had finals and couldn't stay with me. They called my sister who said that she'd call my dad and they'd both come, but…"

When I trailed off she asked, "But that didn't happen?"

I let out a sigh and tried not to sound bitter. "Nope. My sister and I, we've… well, I've been on her shit list since high school and that got upgraded to 'persona non grata' after I found out about Mike. As for my dad and I… things been weird between us since I confront him about Mike. But he's still my dad so… anyways in that instance I know he would have been there if my sister had of told him where I was."

"Ouch. And I say that because I know how that feels."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yeah. My mom and I always had a strained relationship because my dad so single-mindedly wanted me to be a ballplayer. Everything we did together was to get me here. Well… not here, but you get me. And Will… he and I just had a huge fight, so I think we'll go back to the whole not talking game again."

"Oh Ginny, I'm sorry to hear that. But I thought you two were pretty close from what I've heard Evelyn say."

"We WERE… when I was younger, but not anymore."

"Shit. That sucks. Do you mind me asking when you had your blow fight?"

"Nah, I don't mind. It was today, before I came to the ball park." My eyes went wide and I gaped at that answer. Ginny laughed at the look on my face. "And if that wasn't bad enough, Amelia and I had our own war of words when I was getting dressed and she quit on my too."

"What the fuck?" My exclamation earned me a variety of looks ranging from shock to amusement. I lowered the volume of my voice so that only Ginny could hear me. "Are you shitting me? You had a fight with both your brother and your agent before you pitched a no-hitter?"

She blushed answering, "Yes, to the first and no to the second."

"I beg to differ. You left after eight innings. A complete game is five and a half innings, so technically you pitched a no-hitter."

"I like the way you think."

"Hey. I'm just giving you the facts. But I'm sorry about Will and Amelia. That really…"

"Ms. Baker?"

We both turned to look at her doctor as he approached with a chart in his hands. "Yes, Dr. Grace?"

"You'll be happy to hear that so far all of your x-rays have come back negative."

She smiled and said, 'That's great" as I asked, "So far?"

Dr. Grace smiled at us replying, "That's right Ms. Grissom. We haven't gotten the result of the MRI or a couple of the other scans back yet, so I'd like to keep you overnight just in case."

Although Ginny didn't look happy about that news, she smiled politely and said, "If you think it's best."

"I do," the doctor answered in a soft, caring tone. "An orderly will be by shortly to take you to your private room. I believe that there's some security there already to keep the media away."

After he said his goodbyes and started to walk away, she turned to me and asked, "There is?"

"Elliott called me while you were having the MRI. I had a feeling Dr. 'Overly Cautious' would keep you overnight, so I asked him about it. He said you already had a company that you use for private events and such, so I' asked him to send a couple of guys here. I'm sorry if I over-stepped."

"No, no it isn't that… That's not it AT ALL. It's perfect. Thank you… so much. Actually, it brings up something I wanted to ask you about."

By this time, she was being wheeled to her room. The orderly and a male nursed helped her onto her bed. The orderly showed her how to adjust the bed to her liking and passed her the remote for the flat screen TV. After he was done, the nursed stepped forward and gave her a couple of pills and said that he would check on her in a couple of hours.

We had already met the two security guards stationed at the hospital to keep her safe. Ginny knew both of them quite well, so I felt more at ease knowing they would be there when I couldn't be. I felt that way mostly because they had told us that they had already headed off some of the paparazzi and directed them to a different ward. Her name wasn't posted outside her door and hospital staff were given explicit instructions that her whereabouts were not to be given out to anyone, period. Plus, they would be working in a rotation so there would always be at least two of them at the hospital in at any given time with one always being posted at her door.

When we were finally alone in the room, I looked at Ginny and said, "Wow! They sure are thorough."

She suddenly wouldn't meet my eyes as she replied, "Amelia hired them. Apparently, she's been using them for years as security for the Hollywood starlets she represents."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." I pulled up a chair and sat down on her right-hand side. "You said earlier that there was something you wanted to ask me about."

"Yeah, there is." She settled into her spot and turned to look me in the eye before she spoke again. "From what we've talked about, you're planning on becoming an agent, right?"

"That's my plan. Actually, Mr. Cecil has offered me a position at his firm, so long as I pass the bar exam this Spring."

"Really? I hadn't heard anything about that. Congrats!"

This time it was my turn to cast my embarrassed gaze way from her face. "That's because I've been really careful not to say anything to anyone yet."

She gripped my left arm firmly stating, "Brie, you'll pass the exam."

I gave her a weak smile because I knew she was right, but that didn't stop my self-doubt from trying to convince of the opposite. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You're welcome. Plus… well I you don't pass then my next question won't matter."

"Qué?"

She let out a bark of a laugh then explained, "I'm in the market for a new agent. From what I've heard from and about you, I think you would be the perfect fit."

"Me? Really? I… I don't know what to say."

"That's okay, I don't expect an answer tonight. I've had the thought in the back of my mind for a while now, so I get that you'll need some time to think about it."

She started to yawn and her eyelids started to look heavy, so I figured it would be a good time to make my exit.

"Thanks Ginny. I promise you I'll think about it and get back to you with an answer. And on the vein… I was thinking about taking your phone and your jersey home with me so that they don't fall into the wrong sticky fingers."

"Shit, yeah. God, after all the problems I had with Trevor being hacked, please, take them away and keep them safe for me."

"Consider them under lock and key. I wrote down my number here, so call me tomorrow when you know when you'll be released. I'll bring you a change of clothes and take you home."

"That'd be great. Thanks. Oh… my…"

"Elliott brought me your backpack. He and I have it all covered. Now one last thing before I let you sleep. Is there anyone you want me to call tonight?"

"Actually, yeah. Could you call my mom? She's probably freaking out right now."

"Sure, I can do that. And Elliott and I have kept the team and front office in the loop, so don't worry about them. Is there anyone else? Like…? Noah?"

She shook her head and laid down as she sleepily replied, "Nay, I'll call him when I get home tomorrow."

I quietly left the room then to let her sleep. I introduced myself to the guards at the door and gave them Davis Cecil's business card with my name and number on the back of it. I explained that Amelia had an urgent issue she was dealing with; therefore, she wouldn't be available by phone overnight. Since they usually dealt with Elliot when Amelia wasn't available, they had no problem calling him or me this time around.

With all of that settled, I finally got into my Uber and dialed Ginny's mother's number on her phone.

"Ginny! Are you okay?"

Oops, maybe using her phone wasn't that great of an idea. "I'm sorry Mrs. Baker, but this isn't Ginny."

"Well then, who IS this?"

"My… uhh… my name is Brianna Grissom. I'm a friend of Ginny's and my brother is Mike Lawson."

"Mike. Yes, I've met him. Okay. Why do you have Ginny's phone?"

"She's been admitted into the hospital for observation overnight. Before you worry, it's all just a precaution. So far it looks like she sprained or pull a muscle. From what I overheard from the doctor, it doesn't look like she'll need surgery."

"Aright, but…"

"Her phone… Sorry to interrupt, but I have her phone and other personal items for safe keeping. I didn't want them to go missing while she's sleeping."

"Oh… goodness… That does make sense. Thank you for taking care of that Mrs. Grissom."

 _Crap!_ She caught the fact that Mike and I had different last names. _Just keep going. Don't make a big deal and it won't be a big deal._ "I'm more than happy to help, Mrs. Baker. Now, if you want to get a hold of me, you can call Ginny's cell, but I'll give you mine as well, just in case. Once I have any updates about her, I'll call you right away. And I promise, I will get her to call you as soon as she is released."

"That sounds good to me. Thank you again, Mrs. Grissom. And please don't worry about the time, just call me as soon as you hear anything else."

"I will, but she was sleeping when I left the hospital, so I don't anticipate getting any more news tonight. I just wanted you to know that she's okay so that you can try to get some proper rest tonight."

"God bless you. I'm not sure that I will, but I'll try. Good night."

"Good night. I promise I'll call as soon as I hear anything."

Surprisingly enough, my ride had arrived at my destination before I finished my phone call. I apologized profusely and gave him a twenty dollar tip to show my gratitude. I also promised to give him a five-star review as I exited the car. He drove away with a huge smile on his face that made me chuckle to myself. If only all of life's problems could be solved so easily.

I juggled my messenger bag and Ginny's backpack around until I could put her phone away to free up my hands to pull out my keys. I knew Alex would want to talk about everything, but right now I needed to think over what Ginny had said before I told him about her proposal.

 _Me? Her agent? That would mean my first client…_ I shook my head then and said to myself, _DON'T start that shit yet. Sleep, then think, then talk to Alex._

I turned around to head up to Alex's suite and stopped dead in my tracks and quietly cursed out, "Shitfuck."


	19. I Am Throwing Myself At Things I Don't

I Am Throwing Myself AtThings I Don't Understand:

I looked down at my phone and realized that I had accidentally used Mike's account to order my Uber, so I ended up at his house instead of Alex's apartment. More than once a day I reminded myself that I should delete his account, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It just felt so final and deep down I had held out hope that we would reconcile so I didn't want to do anything drastic. (In my defense, I had left all of the Padres' clothing he had given me behind at his house to be dramatic in the hopes that it would make him feel guilty. Since he had called me first to apologize, I was starting to think that move had worked better than I had hoped it would.)

But I wasn't sure that I was ready to face him tonight. I tried to open the App on my phone again, but my hands were shaking so badly that I nearly dropped my phone. After my third attempt, my phone slipped out of my hands and hit the ground. I dropped to my knees to retrieve it and tried again. Of course, since I have the worst luck on the planet, that's when a light over Mike's carport turned on as he called out, "Can I help you with something?"

Still on my knees, I turned around to face him. When my reply finally came out, I think it surprised us both that we could hear tears in my voice, "I'm so sorry! I don't… I mean I didn't… but then I and he drove off before I realized…"

He hobbled down his stairs to help me to my feet, which caused the dam to break and the first tears to fall. "Shit! You were icing… Oh God! Mike, I'm so, SO sorry!"

He got me to stand so that he could hug me. "It's alright, Brie. Shh… Please, don't cry. I'll be fine."

I hiccupped in a couple of breaths before I managed to calm my breathing again. Once I felt I had my tears under control, I pushed out of his arms just far enough that I could see his face.

"Your knees must be screaming at you after that catch!"

He wiped the moisture off one of my cheeks replying, "I'll live. Plus, Al already told me Duarte will be starting tomorrow so that I can rest up my old knees."

"Good. That's good… That you can rest! And… I… I should get out of your hair too then."

"Actually," he started as he slipped my messenger bag off my shoulder and onto his. "Why don't you come inside, have a drink and catch your breath before you call for another ride?"

He had already started to lead me back up the stairs to his house, but I still mumbled out, "Yeah… okay. That sounds fine."

He chuckled to himself at hearing my response thinking that I was so worn out from the day that I wasn't completely coherent. What he didn't know was that all the thoughts that I had been trying to push aside after talking with Ginny were coming back and hitting me hard. It wasn't just the topic of my relationship status with the pitcher that I wanted to avoid thinking about, I also wanted to sleep on a few thoughts that Ginny had brought up that made me contemplate my future relationship with Mike as well.

Like I told him at the ball park, I wanted to take things slow. Both of us had a fiery temper and we both seemed to have difficulties putting our true feelings into words. A lot of our fights looked like they were one-sided arguments, but I knew that we both had that special knowledge of how to push the other person's buttons and neither of us would hesitate to do it to try to hammer home a particular point.

That's why I tried my damnedest to hide my quivering bottom lip when Mike handed me a bottle of beer. He, of course, noticed it right away, so he sat down beside me on the couch and asked, "Brie? What's wrong?"'

I took a drink form the bottle and instantly started choking on it. Mike snatched it out of my hand and placed it on the table. He started patting me on the back to try to help to guide the liquid down my throat.

"Seriously Brie, you're freaking me out. Please, talk to me."

I nodded and stilled his hand once my choking stopped. I kept a hold of it as I turned on my hip to face him and quietly said, "I don't want to fight with you anymore."

"Well that's a relief to hear. But that doesn't explain…" He motioned at my face and the tears that were once again falling down my cheeks. "All of this."

"Mike. I'm being serious. I really don't want to fight with you anymore. I forgive you and I want us to be 'us' again."

"Alright, I get that Brie, but…"

"No!" I interrupted as I jumped to my feet. "No, you don't Mike! If I end up in the hospital and need like a kidney or a blood transfusion or something, I want to know that I have at least one sibling who will answer the call. I really don't want us to have what happened after that stupid road trip to be a wall between us anymore. In the end, everything worked out fine and I'm more than happy with Alex, so I want us to be good again too."

"We are, Brie." I stamped my foot so he stood up and hugged me to keep me from interrupting his thought. "I mean we will be because we'll work on it together. So long as you forgive me, everything between us will work out, I promise." He heard me sniffle in a breath, so he pulled out of our embrace to look down at me and asked, "But all of this…? All these tears? They can't just be because of our fight… What's really going on, Brie?"

I shook my head and turned my back on him while I tried to compose myself again. He watched me in silence as I took a deep swig of beer and sat down on the couch. "You're right, they aren't totally your fault. It just that… between going for scans and X-rays, Ginny and I had a lot of time to talk. Everything that she told me about her family brought up all the shit I've been trying to forget about my own stupid family dynamics."

"Like already having a brother and sister who act like you shouldn't exist in their worlds?" He asked as he reclaimed his seat beside me.

I groaned then answered through my hands covering my face, "You know… I really hate that I told you that."

"Why?"

He gently pulled my hands away from my face so my next reply was less muffled. "Because it isn't your fault and there's nothing you can do about it, so I shouldn't have put hat on your shoulders."

"Okay, that makes sense. But you've told me now and according to your boyfriend you're the only one who can explain it to me. And give how it play into everything with Ginny and you ending up here…"

He trailed off into a masculine laugh when he saw me throw my hands over my face again to stifle my groan. "You're right," I said behind my hands before I pulled them away. "Okay, so I know I told you before that growing up I was a fan of yours…"

"Because you have impeccable taste," he interrupted with his familiar smug smile.

"So says you! Others call it questionable taste." I held my hand up towards him then because I could tell that he was going to try to interrupt me again and I wasn't sure if I could get through this explanation if he kept derailing my train of thought. "Two of those people being my sister and brother, but mostly my sister. So…long story short… she found out about our dad and your mom while my parents were having a huge, LOUD fight. I guess at some point mom figured out about the affair and decided that having another baby would help to save their marriage, which… ended up being me." I paused there to take a drink and let that information set in for him. When he started to look less over-whelmed, I continued saying, "So, the rest of this I've pieced together from fights with my sister and a little help from my brother. I guess when my mom found out she was pregnant she planned a family dinner, but dad was late… then she found him at the ballpark with a kid that he was coaching. At first, she didn't know it was you, but then she saw your mom pick you up another day and she completely lost it. In fact, she even threatened to leave my dad and have an abortion if he didn't cut ties with your mom for good this time."

"Are you…? No, of course you're serious. Brie, I had no idea."

"Nor would I expect you to either. Anyways, quick fast forward. You guys left town and everything sort of went back to normal. From what my brother says, mom and dad seemed to always have some kind of distance between them, but it seemed less strained once I came along."

"So, you were the baby that saved their marriage?"

I knew mike was trying to tease a laugh out of me, but I wouldn't allow myself to be distracted right now. "Baby? Maybe… yes. Child? Definitely no. You see, dad LOVES baseball. That's why he coached a team even though my brother didn't want to play. When I was old enough for t-ball, dad took me to try out. I loved it, or so he says, but my mom decided that dance and swimming were going to be my summer sports. As you already know, I'm a fish out of water, so I didn't complain about that until I got older." I paused again and finished my bottle of beer.

When Mike hear the hallow 'clink' sound it made when I put it back on the coffee table, he silently picked it up and left the room. When he returned he had a six-pack box in his hand and he liberated one of the bottles as he explained, "So that you don't get unduly interrupted again"

That coaxed a laugh out of me as I thanked him. After a long drink, I took in a deep breath then continued, "Alright, where…? Right. When I was old enough for little league I begged and pleaded until my mom finally gave in. Apparently, she was convinced that by keeping me away from all things baseball as a player, not a spectator, for so many years that I would totally suck."

"But you proved her wrong," Mike proclaimed as he tilted the neck of his bottle towards me.

I shook my head and put my bear down without taking another drink. "Hate to disappoint you, but she was right. I couldn't hit a ball to save my life, BUT I was okay in the outfield So… I stuck with swimming because dancing wasn't my forte either. But that's when I became an even more avid fan. Dad and I got closer back then because of it and my mom and I ended up growing further apart. Even though I couldn't hit a curveball, I learned everything I could about the rules and mechanics of baseball… I hate to admit it but I loved that Dad used to call me "Slugger" because of that…"

For some reason that comment brought the tears I had been holding back to surface. Thankfully Mike went against his instinct and didn't make any kind of jackass comment. Instead, he slid closer to me and squeezed my hand to give me some measure of reassurance while I drained my second bottle of beer.

We sat in silence until I could speak clearly again. "Alright… So… I should fast-forward again a bit so that I can get to the gist of this story. Okay… so dad and I got closer which meant my relationship with my mom and sister became beyond strained. We were all still a family but once my sister graduated, she and I didn't speak except at family dinners. Well… that was until my sixteenth birthday."

Mike let out a soft groan before he said, "I'm not sure I like the sound of this."

I turned to look at him as I reversed my grip on his hand so that I could press our palms together. "Sorry, but this probably is a part that you'll hate the most. But, if I don't tell you about this then the rest won't really make sense."

He took in a deep breath and looked like he was giving my words some serious thought. After what felt like an eternity, he held up his beer bottle and said, "Well… We've come this far, we might as well see it through, right?"

I picked up my new bottle and tapped the neck against Mike's beer. "Thanks. So… I turned sixteen and one of my friends decided to get me a poster of my favorite player for my wall." Mike smirked with a distinct twinkle in his eye, but before he could say anything I added in as annoyed a tone as I could muster, "Yeah, yeah… it was of you. Get over yourself."

He held up his hands as he innocently replied, "I didn't say anything."

I punched arm as I replied, "But whatever you were thinking was bad enough. Anyways, my whole party had been a slumber party in my room, so my parents only saw the gifts I showed them. No one knew about the poster because I put it on the back of my door and said nothing about it to keep from having a fight with my mom until... until my sister came home one day. While I was at school, she went into my room... don't ask me why because I either never found out or I blocked it out. SHE went ballistic and I found it ripped into pieces on my bedroom floor when I got home later that day."

"You can't be serious. She didn't really do that."

I put my right hand over my heart replying, "I swear that's the God's honest truth. I came home and found it like that, so I of course was out for blood. But instead of getting vengeance, I got a stern lecture from her and our mother about how to be a proper young lady that to this day still makes NO sense to me."

"So, by that time the both knew who I was, but you had no clue?"

"None. Growing up my mom and sister hated anything to do with baseball. My sister even broke up with a guy because he wanted to see our high school team play a championship game because his friends were on the roster. I just figured that their hatred was so deep that they just over-reacted to my poster."

Mike was frowning so intensely that I went quiet because I was sure that he had a question for me. "What about your dad? What did he have to say about it?"

"He never found out. Mom tossed the poster in the trash before he got home from work and told me not to breath a word about it to him, so I didn't. They made me feel so ashamed about owning it and... well I was too embarrassed to tell my dad or brother about what my sister did by the time they were done with me."

"Wait! There was an 'and' in there. Brie, you said you were coming clean tonight, so out with it."

I tried to glare at him, but he was wearing that stupid smirk on his face that was more playful than smug, so I couldn't make it stick. "You already know the 'and' stuff, so I skipped it."

"I don't think you should."

I glared at him for real as I took a drink from my bottle before I grumbled, "I hate you."

"You love me. Now, back to the story. And don't spare any details."

"Fine! They both made me feel like a piece of dog shit that they had to scrape off their shoe for having your poster on my door because I had a crush on you. Happy?"

"Not when you say it that way I'm not." He reached over and massaged the frown lines on my forehead as he sincerely said, "I'm sorry they made you feel that way."

I caught his hand and held it as I more calmly replied, "It's okay. It isn't your fault our dad had an affair with your mom and more than it's my fault my mom had me in a misguided attempt to reunite our family."

"But form what you've been saying it sounds like having Little Baby Grissom around DID help your family."

"Again, yes and no. Yeah, I was a distraction for a while, but I also brought up a whole slew of other issues that weren't Mike Lawson related."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Because I'm so much younger than my sister and brother, they were frequently tasked with taking care of me. A lot of the time it was after mom took off to cool down after a fight with dad. Apparently, those could get so bad that some nights mom didn't come home at all."

"Wow. That's... I don't know what to say."

"Me either. I don't remember any of that and after my last blow up with my sister I'm not sure she remembers it properly either. But I digress. Back to your favorite topic: you."

"Hey now!"

"Just teasing. After the poster incident, things mellowed for a bit. When either of them were around, I avoided all things baseball. I know it hurt my dad to lose that common ground with me, but when I was just the two of us, you couldn't shut me up about the Padres. I think at some point he figured out that my baseball phobia was mother and sister induced, so he didn't really hold it against me. And that became the status quo while I was still in high school."

"Uh oh. What happened next?"

"Remember the jersey you found me with at the stadium?"

"The one I wasn't allowed to scribble on because you want to get top dollar for it one day?"

"Yep, that's the one," I replied in an overly cheerful tone. When I saw a pained look in his eyes at that, I squeezed his hand and said, "Trust me, there isn't enough money on the planet to convince me to part with that jersey, EVER."

"Oh really?"

"Really! Since I knew no one in my family would buy it for me, I saved up for months to buy it. Then my friend Scarlett and I did a road trip down here for grad. I bought it then as a congratulatory gift for myself after I got my acceptance letter to Stanford."

"What? Really? No one in your family knew about it either?"

I shook my head answering, "My dad and brother caught me wearing it while I was packing to move to college dorms. Neither of them were as irrationally opposed to anything related to you, so they promised not to tell anyone else in my family about it."

"Okay. So far, it's sounding like things weren't great, but that they were still cordial between you and the women in family and even better with your dad and brother, what changed?"

"I had a Sociology class and stole Teddy's Sports Illustrated."

"Oh, right. That. But, I thought you only bugged your dad about that."

"I did... But wouldn't you believe I have THE shittiest luck on the face of the planet. My sister had taken my mom out shopping to buy my nephew's birthday present... oh... my... err our brother has a son. HE'S allowed to love baseball."

Mike exchanged his empty bottle for a fresh one as he said, "Yeah, I know. I've seen him."

"What? When?"

"We'll get into that when you're finished your story."

"Oh... Okay... Alright... I... Anyways, I was basically chasing my dad around the house with Teddy's Sport Illustrated when my sister walk in... I swear I saw steam come out of her ears when she saw your picture. And... Fuck I had a helluva time finding a new copy of that stupid magazine for him."

"Why? What happened to his copy?"

"My sister went full Freddy Krueger on it."

Mike's eyes went comically wide as he said, "Sit, remind me to wear goggles if I ever meet her."

I gave him a sympathetic smile. "Make sure they're the bullet proof kind." He gaped at that comment and I choked on a laugh (and my beer) at his reaction. "I was just kidding. I'll be putting all of my efforts into keeping you too separated at all costs if you ever find yourself in the same building as her. Seriously, she goes psychotic when it comes to anything remotely associated to you. Hell, I left the house with a black eye that day for bringing a reminder of what dad did to mom into the house again. She had a few more colorful things to say to me before she munched me in the face and told me I was dead to her."

"Wow. Talk about unladylike behavior." I stared at him with my mouth in a hard line causing him to grab my arm and ask, "Brie? What did I say wrong?"

"Nothing, I replied in a dazed tone. "I have replayed that fight in my head so many times that I've lost count and I have never come up with a comeback as good as that. Damn Lawson, you're awesome. Oh shit! I didn't mean to make that rhyme."

He wrapped an arm around my neck to give me a hug. "You're so corny because you are so in love with me."

I shoved at his side protesting, "Get off me bushman! I have a boyfriend!"

He didn't let go of me, but he stopped teasing me and very earnestly asked, "And that was it? After that your family cut you out?"

"No, just my sister. My brother and I were never 'buddy buddy', so everything's pretty much the same with him. Dad and I have had a couple of one on one talks because I'm the only one who hasn't demonized him for the affair. I told him about our dinner in San Fran and he was really curious to hear more about how you were no compared to what he remembered from twenty some odd years ago. And mom. Well... we have a polite relationship. She doesn't out-right ignore me, but she doesn't go out of her way either, if you know what I mean."

"Whoa, you mean it? Your... our father asks about me? What...? Why are you giving me the puppy dog eyes?"

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but no, he doesn't ask about you."

"But I thought you said..."

"I said he was curious to hear about you. He doesn't want to hurt my mom any more than he already has, so he won't initiate those conversations. BUT! If I bring you up, he won't do anything to hinder the conversation either. And yes, he will ask questions about you IF I'm already talking about you."

"Huh. I figured after my mom and I left town that he just forgot about me."

"I'm not going to lie... he tried to, he really did... He even cut down on the games he would watch after you were drafted because EVERYONE couldn't stop talking about you... including his youngest child."

"Okay. Then can I ask you something? And remember you promised you wouldn't lie... at least not tonight."

I put my beer down on the coffee table so that I could turn and face him. Once I had my legs crossed on the couch cushion and my hands folded in my lap, I meekly asked, "What...? What do you want to know?"

"Brie, it isn't doom and... okay maybe... Anyways. What I want to ask is... Do you think...? I mean if I ever went...? If I...?"

He was making such a valiant effort that wanted to let him get his question out, but in the next breath I didn't want him to torture himself any more than he had to. "Yes," I finally answered as I reached out to hold his arm. "Yes, he would want to talk to you. If you showed up at his door, yes, he would invite you in. Well... that's if..."

"I get it."

"And even then, he'd probably just take you for a walk around the block to have a one on one with you." Mike raised an eyebrow at that last part. "It's his thing. Whenever mom and I, or my sister and I were at each other's throats, his solution was to pick up our gloves and go for a walk. I know it sounds lame and old school, but I really miss those walks."

"It doesn't sound lame, it sounds nice. Okay, what if it was your brother and nephew who were with your dad when I arrived?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and asked in a very suspicious tone, "Hypothetically?"

"Of course, hypothetically!"

There was something about the look on his face and the tone of his voice that made me want to ignore his question and ask a few of my own. But he had the floor now and I wanted to show him the same respect he had been showing me tonight.

"Well in that case, what my dad and brother would is a moot point. Jonah would ignore his father and grandfather and force you to play catch with him. And trust me, I know from experience that it's virtually impossible to say no to that kid, so you'd totally do it."

"Jonah? Really? I have a half-nephew named Jonah?"

"Don't even start with me. I tried to intervene, but Richard is a total push over when it comes to his wife."

"Oh... yeah... that makes sense. So, what you're telling me is that if I had of gotten out of the car, I could have actually had a conversation with our father AND our brother?"

This time I really let my suspicions be heard as I asked, "Are we still talking about all of this in the hypothetical sense?"

"Of course..." I gave him a hard look, so he very contritely added, "Well no. But could you just tell me yes or no before I continue?"

"Yes." He waited and gave me a 'come on, out with it' look. I barked out a laugh then repeated, "Yes, they would have had a conversation with you... unless Jonah was there, which I've already told you about. Now, it's your turn."

He reached over and popped the cap off another beer and passed it to me. I raised an inquisitive eyebrow to which her responded, "Right, I might not want you to have a weapon in your hands right now."

I snatched the beer out of his hand asking, "A weapon? How bad is it?"

"Probably the worst thing I have ever done to you."

We shared a look and I sniffled back a tear as I asked, "Your solo mission?"

"Yep. All the talk about how hard it had been for Duarte growing up and making it to the Majors got me thinking even more about my childhood. Since my mom passed away, I really haven't had any family except for my teammates. Even then they didn't start feeling like family until I became a Padre full-time."

"Oh God Mike, I... I never thought of it that way."

"It's not your problem, so I wouldn't expect you to have thought about it. So anyways, here I am, divorced, childless... well as far as I know I'm not a father... and suddenly I'm told this blond, blue/green eyed beauty is my half-sister. Then everyone won't shut up about tough childhoods and moving and... well I finally got the courage to introduce myself to our dad, but..."

"That trip didn't go according to plan?" I offered.

"You could say that. When I got to his street, he was outside in the yard... Dad that is... so I watched him for a bit."

"Because that's not creepy at all."

"Hey now, I was getting the lay of the land. After a few minutes, I finally decided to go out to talk to him but then..."

"Richard and Jonah came out into the yard before you could make it there," I finished for him when he fell silent for over a minute.

"With a bat and a ball no less."

That made me laugh as I said, "Yeah, he wants to be the next Derek Jeter." Not going to lie, I totally giggle-snorted at the offended look that comment put on Mike's face. "Sorry. He's an infielder and he's completely ignorant to our relationship to you."

"An infielder? Does grandpa let him play first base?"

"Uhh... Dad doesn't coach much anymore," I replied with a confused scowl. "Why do you ask?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Mike, obviously it does to you if you brought it up."

He shook his head then very earnestly stated, "No, honestly, it doesn't matter. I'll be going to the Hall of Fame as a catcher and that's a pretty elite crowd."

"That it is. So... you not wanting me to live here, it was all because...?"

"I was being petty and jealous," he answered over the rest of my question. "Between feeling like I was being replaced on the team and then feeling like the childhood I never got to have was being shoved in my face... I guess I just wanted to lash out and... and... unfortunately, you were the most convenient target."

"Lucky me."

His face dropped as he slid closer to me saying, "Brie... shit... I don't even know how to tell you how sorry I am about doing that to you."

I let him wrap me in a hug because I could tell he needed that form me. To make us both more comfortable, I even unfurled my limbs so that I could cuddle in closer to his chest because, let's face it, I needed this from him too.

"Mike?" I called out softly with my cheek pressed against his chest. "I wasn't being sarcastic. You kicking me out forced me out of my comfort zone."

"Oh yeah? And living with me was TOTALLY comfortable?"

"Not at first, but after I made up my mind and had another blow out fight with my mom about baseball, I got used to the idea. Plus, we've been talking every other day for almost a year, so I don't know... you feel more like a brother to me than Richard or Catherine do and... well... it kind of felt like home here."

"I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

I swatted his side. "It can't be. I'm sure your groupies compliment you all the time."

"yeah, but at least I know you're being genuine. So, tell me more about why me being an asshole to you was a good thing."

I took in a deep breath and was relieved that he couldn't see me blushing. "I sabotage my relationships." He huffed out a laugh, but I kept going, "I was seeing a guy at college for two years, but when he wanted me to move in with him, I got weirded out and did some stuff I'm REALLY not proud of until he broke up with me. If I hadn't of moved in with Alex, I'm not sure our relationship would be as strong as it is now."

"Brie, I don't believe that for a second. That's just your self-deprecating thoughts coming out."

I snorted out a laugh then pushed back against his chest so that I could look at him to say, "You think you know something about that?"

"Yes, actually I do," Mike retorted with a loving smile. "I saw the massive change in your self-esteem and swagger after Gibby and... and I saw the terrified look in your eyes when Ellis declared his love for you in front of everyone."

"Fuck! You don't think Alex saw it, do you?"

"See? There you go again. And no, I don't think anyone but me noticed it. We share DNA, so we have a special bond."

I raised an eyebrow and couldn't keep the cynicism out of my voice when I retorted, 'Seriously, Mike? That's what you go with?"

He tackled me into another hug saying, "Yes! That's what I'm going with!"

I fell into a fit of giggles that soon turned into Mike laughing with me. If you asked either of us, we would both tell you it happened because of the beer. The truth of the matter was that the dark cloud that had been looming over our relationship had finally disappeared. We hadn't had many heart to hearts over the last couple of years, so this one was long overdue. Plus, we both needed to clear the air after we had both misplaced blame on the other person (more times than should have been possible).

Soon enough I ended up laying across Mike's lap with his right arm hooked around my neck in a choke-hold styled hug. He leaned down (which seriously almost choked me out for real) to kiss my temple before he whispered, "Thanks for accepting my apology."

I gripped his forearm tightly, hoping my tears would hit my skin and not his as I hoarsely replied, "Thanks for being my first sibling to apologize to me."


	20. Discover Enlightenment Holding Your Hand

Discover Enlightenment Holding Your Hand:

 **I snuggled into Alex's side on the couch while he flipped through the channels on our TV. My left hand was still extended out at arm's length so that I could stare down at my engagement ring. I was almost afraid that if I stopped looking at it that it would disappear. Alex had it custom made out of white gold with an obnoxiously large (at least by my standards because I hardly ever wore flashy jewelry) labradorite stone in the middle with curly cues wrapping around the bottom and sides to look like vines that ended with a leaf on either side of the main stone. Embedded in the leaves were their own onyx stone to complete the setting. I know I reference my zodiac sign enough to annoy anyone, so the fact that he chose stones that complimented both of our astrological signs wasn't lost on me to prove how much he loved me.**

 _ **My fiancé is a saint**_ **, I thought to myself as I moved my ring under the light.**

 **Alex squeezed me into his side as he asked, "So? Did I do good?"**

 **I turned my head to kiss his lips, but before I could reply I heard, "Now if this Padres' season hadn't already been filled with its own fairy tale magic: from welcoming the first female MLB player with open arms to clawing their way into a playoff spot; Padres' right fielder, Alex Ellis, decided to add one more Cinderella like feat to their already magical year.**

 **Here you see the team and fans celebrating as the Padres clinched the Wildcard spot after forcing the game into extra innings. What no one noticed, not even his future fiancée, is that Alex Ellis sneaks away from the celebrations on the file to make his way to the seats by the dugout. Suddenly the announcer asks the crowd to turn their attention to the big screen in center field."**

 *****Camera pans to the centerfield screen with "BRIANNA GRISSOM...? WILL YOU MARRY ME? (PS MIKE GAVE ME THE OKAY TO ASK)" scrolled across it. Camera then pans to me standing at my spot (I started sitting in the seat Mike left me because it was one of the best at the ball park) with both of my hands covering my mouth with tears streaming down my cheeks while I stare down at Alex, who is down on one knee on the field*****

 **"Looks like the crowd wasn't the only ones surprised by the impromptu proposal. After being coaxed down to the field by her seat-mates..."**

 *****Camera shows me nodding emphatically as Alex slipped the ring on my finger. Once that was done, he surged up to give me a deep kiss. While we kissed, he pulled me over the railing so that he was holding me bridal style in his arms. After he released my lips, we both turned to look at someone who had caught our attention. Alex then put my feet down on the field so that I could run and almost leap into Mike's awaiting arms.*****

 **"She said 'yes' and everyone at Petco had another reason to celebrate."**

 **"That they did. Congratulations Alex and Brianna form all of us here at Fox Sports. Now, let's turn our attention to the American League..."**

 **"You definitely did way better than good, but my brain's too mushy to come up with a better adjective right now," I finally answered after he muted the TV.**

 **"Well, I won't argue with that review."**

 **We both laughed at that. Then I moved my hand so that it was in front of both of us as I asked, "Did you really ask Mike's permission for my hand in marriage?"**

 **Alex kissed my head answering, "You keep telling me how smart I am... After I called to talk with your father, I called Mike to ask for his okay too."**

 **I sat back to look into his face as I tearfully asked, "You called our dad?"**

 **Alex's response was cut off by AC/DC's 'Back in black' playing form my phone. It was the ringtone I had chosen for anyone calling from a number not listed for one of my contacts or for one who I didn't talk to enough to rate a custom ringtone. We had heard it many times tonight and most of them had been the media looking for a soundbite from one or both of us. After watching the proposal, yet again, I got an idea.**

 **I picked up my phone and placed my right index finger over my lips as I hit the speaker phone function and said, "You've reached the voicemail of the future Mrs. Alex Ellis. She's too busy lavishing her fiancé with love and devotion right now to worry about phone calls, but if you leave a message she might contemplate leaving their love nest to reply. BEEP!"**

 _ **"Too busy? Of course, you're too busy being a selfish wench to care about that people that you hurt. Jesus Christ Brianna! 'Mike gave me the okay'? That's what mom had to see while she watched her ungrateful, spoiled brat of a daughter get engaged? If you wanted to hurt her, why didn't you just come up here and punch her in the gut yourself? Oh wait, that would mean you'd have to think about someone other than yourself for once. But whatever. I don't know why I expected anything else form you. You always seem to choose that bastard over your true flesh and blood. Well, I guess you've really made your choice now. Fine... whatever... But it would have been nice if you could have gotten over yourself for a whole five seconds to call us... No... wait! To call MOM to tell her the news yourself. Instead of her hearing from a neighbor to turn on Fox Sports. I wish I could make you feel her heartache, but I don't have time for that now... I'M spending all of my energy consoling our mother. I hope you're happy, you selfish, ungrateful bitch...**_

 **Alex took my phone from me and shouted, "Hey! Look here..." He stopped his tirade when his angry words were met with the deafening sound of the dial-tone. After ending the call, he tossed my phone onto the floor and wrapped me in his arms. "Baby, don't let her rain on our parade."**

 **I hiccupped in a breath that made my whole body shake...**

That's when I woke up to Mike carrying me up the stairs in his house. My thoughts were kind of foggy but I still managed to say, "You... you shouldn't carry me... too heavy..."

Mike chuckled replying, "Brie? I'm pretty sure you weigh less than my equipment bag, I'm fine."

"Bad knee..." I yawned and started to fall back asleep in his arms. "After... out... no-hitter..."

After he placed me on the bed, Mike kissed my forehead and whispered, "It isn't that bad. Go back to sleep, Lil Sis."

I frowned at his words and mumbled, "Don't kick me out again."

"Never, Brie. I would never do that again. Sweet dreams."

After that I fell into a dreamless sleep. When I woke up again, I turned to look at the clock beside the bed. Immediately I could make out that it was still the wee hours of the morning, so I rolled over to snuggle into the warmth of Alex's body. Except that Alex wasn't there. And his side of the bed didn't hold any of the residual heat he left behind when he got out of bed.

But worse than that, this be was smaller than the one that I had been sharing with Alex for the last couple of months. My eyes flew open at that thought and I sat up on the bed to get my bearings. At first my heard and thoughts were racing so badly that I couldn't actually 'see' anything around me. But as my eyes darted around the room, everything started to look familiar and I finally calmed down.

 _Mike's,_ I thought to myself as I rested my back against the headboard. _I'm at Mike's house. And we talked everything out. Right. But no more binge drinking with Mike. Fuck... how much did I drink? Although, Alex would... ALEX!_

I turned and practically snatched my phone off the side table. Thank God Mike plugged it in for me because I probably would have had a full -on panic attack set in if I couldn't find it. I'm not proud of that I'm so attached to my phone, but I can be honest about it.

It took me less than a minute to put in my PIN and find Alex's name to call his phone.

"Hello? Brie?" He answered in a tone that told me I woke him out of a deep sleep. My cheeks heated up and I'm sure that if he was more awake he would hear the embarrassment in my voice when I answered, "Hey, I'm sorry I woke you up."

"No, you aren't," he teased. "But that's okay. What's on your mind, Baby?"

"I... umm... I just wanted to let you know I'm at Mike's and it looks like I'm spending the night."

"Yeah," he answered with a yawn. "I know."

"And I... Wait! You know?"

He chuckled softly. "Yeah. Mike called me after you passed out with your head in his lap."

"Oh," I replied with a very audible groan. "I didn't know that."

"I wouldn't expect you to. But that can't be the only thing on your mind."

"It's not... and I kind of hate that you know that."

"No, you don't. You love me, now..." Another yawn stifled his, "What's up?"

"I should be letting you sleep. I'm sorry."

"Baby, it's fine. If I didn't want to wake up and talk to you, I would have left my phone by the door like I usually do, so please tell me what's keeping you up."

"You are the best boyfriend on the planet... But I'll gush about that more in person... or just show you my appreciation."

"Brie... Baby, you're killing me..."

"Not yet. But back on toped. I wanted you to be the first person I told that Ginny asked me to be her agent."

"She did? So, Amelia really did quit? But wait... You're heading back to school... How will that work?"

"Yes and yes. I still have to look over her contract with Amelia to make sure that I can represent her. And I haven't said 'yes' yet, so we haven't gotten into any details. But... Does that mean you think that I should do it?"

"You don't? Seriously Brie, can you think of anyone better to be your first client? Davis Cecil will cum in his pants when he hears you bagged Ginny Baker. P.S. How's she doing?"

"She's... hurt. But nothing career threatening, just season ending. And really? You think I should do it?"

He yawned loudly then said, "I think you should sleep on it and we'll talk about why you're crazy for thinking you can't do it. Seriously Brie, it's a fucking awesome offer and you'll kill it. But, I know you... Sleep on it and we'll talk tomorrow."

"Okay. We will. I love you."

"Love you too. Sweet dreams."

"You too."

 **Alex kissed my cheek as he placed my mug of coffee down on the bar at the edge of his kitchen before he asked, "Good news story?"**

 **I shook my head and placed the newspaper down beside me so that he could read it as he sat down. He picked it up and laughed softly into his own mug of coffee while he read the tiny article hidden within the box scores from the past days American and National League games.**

 **"Does this mean you regret your decision?"**

 **I shook my head again as I took a drink from my mug. It was kind of disturbing how he made such a perfect pot of coffee. But, I really only felt that way because I still had yet to find a task that Alex didn't excel at without a great deal of effort. It was kind of annoying, but I couldn't bitch much when it was working in my favor.**

 **After I put my mug down, I stared down into it and replied, "No, I'm not regretting it at all. I'm just wondering how long it will take for Ginny to start second guessing it."**

 **"Tell me you didn't just say that."**

 **"I didn't just say that," I retorted with a cheeky smile. "But Seriously, I know Ginny and I are in safe hands at 'CLB Management', I just have to keep pinching myself to remember that this... ALL of this... you included, are my real life."**

 **Alex leaned over to kiss me and held my cheek as he said, "I'll pinch you if you pinch me."**

 **My lips collided into his for a mild make out session. His hand on my cheek slid to the nape of my neck where he fisted a handful of my hair. I couldn't really think well enough to coordinate my limbs, so I just let my hands hang limply by my sides.**

 **Alex didn't seem to care about anything but kissing me until his phone buzzed. He kept his hands on my had so he could run his thumbs on my cheeks while he asked between gentle pecks, "Are we expecting someone?"**

 **My head almost started to shake automatically because I just wanted to keep kissing him, but that wasn't the truth. I WAS expecting someone.**

 **Reluctantly I pulled away from his inviting lips to say, "Scar." He gave me a confused look that made me giggle. "My friend Scarlett. She has some outfits she's will to lend me for the press conference on Monday."**

 **"You have your own personal designer coming over?" He asked with an impressed look on his face.**

 **My cheeks heated up as I answered, "What? No, she's my... okay... Yes, yes, I do. But she's the one who has insisted on it. I was fine just going to Macy's to get a new suit, but she wouldn't hear of it."**

 **He chuckled as he moved towards his phone as he said, "I like the way she thinks." After he buzzed her in, he came over and kissed me on the top of the head. "I'll go hide in my office while you ladies catch up."**

 **I caught his arm as he tried to make his retreat and pulled him back towards me saying, "Oh, no you don't! Part of the reason we're doing it here is because she wants to meet you, so you're not going anywhere, Mister."**

 **That made Alex pout at me, so I loosened my grip on his arm and added, "At least say 'hi' to her before you disappear."**

 **He leaned in and pecked my lips. "That I can do."**

 **We both leaned towards each other, but before our lips could meet we heard a knock on the door. Alex stood up straight and pulled me to my feet in the process. We shared another look, but I turned to rush to the door before either of us could give in to what those looks promised.**

 **Alex must have heard our high-pitched squeals… Hell, I'm sure half of the people in his building heard it because we honestly are that loud. But, I didn't care because it had been too long since I had seen my best friend in person and I knew my boyfriend would still love me after hearing me sound so insane.**

" **Holy shit, Bee, this is where you're living. No wonder you turned down my offer," Scarlett gushed as we made our way to the kitchen.**

 **I let out a soft groan as I continued to lead her towards where Alex was sure to be doubled over in laughter by now. "Let's not forget the twenty minute versus two hour commute."**

" **Right… right… Whatever you say, Swiss Cheese."**

 **I froze in my spot and stared at her with wide eyes as I quietly exclaimed, "Scarlett!"**

" **What?" She replied in a purely innocent tone. She then passed me while pulling the rolling rack filled with clothes that she had brought with her. "Now… Oh… My… God! HOLY SHIT!"**

 **I rushed to her side asking, "What? What's wrong Scar?"**

 **I found her standing with her left hand over her mouth and her right point at Alex. I nearly asked him what happened, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was as confused as I was in the moment.**

 **Instead, I turned to my best friend to ask, "Scar? What's up?"**

 **Her left hand flick in my direction and smacked me in the boob accidentally. At least I hope it was by accident because damn did it sting.**

" **That's Alex Ellis," she finally replied in a tone that made it sound like she was giving me new and enlightening information. She hit my arm again, so I quickly retreated to his side as she repeated, "ALEX… ELLIS!"**

 **Alex wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. Before I could say anything to her, Scarlett seemed to wake up out of her daze.**

" **Oh shit, of course you know that. I mean I know that you know that just like I knew you were dating Alex Ellis before I came here, but… That is AL-EX EL-LIS. Holy shit."**

 **I couldn't stop myself from laughing because I actually completely understood her reaction. It had been the same way I had described meeting my half-brother at a restaurant in San Francisco. I had even brought Scarlett with me the first time I visited Mike's house to make sure that it wasn't all just some fan-girl hallucination.**

 **I hugged Alex and said to him, "Alex I'd like you to meet my dearest friend in the world, Scarlett Larson. She's a huge Padres' fan, hence the…" I waved my hand up and down as if just looking at her would explain what I meant. "Scare Bear, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Alex. And I know I don't have to tell you any more about him because you already have the bios for the whole roster memorized."**

 **Alex stepped forward with his right hand extended saying, "Scarlett it's nice to finally meet you. Brie's told me so much about you that I feel like I know you."**

" **She has? So, that means that she warned you that I'd be… umm…"**

" **Eccentric?" He supplied for her. "Yes, but she's also shown me some of your work and personally I believe the best artists are truly eccentric."**

 **By this time Alex was standing in front of her, so Scar had to look around him to say to me, "Oh my God! HE's too good to be true. You FINALLY found a good one, Swiss Cheese!"**

 **My cheeks turned an embarrassing shade of red before Alex's lips pressed a kiss against my right cheek. "And on that note, I have some fan mail I need to get to, so I'll leave you ladies to Monday's wardrobe." He kissed my cheek again whispering, "Swiss Cheese?"**

" **I'll explain later," I whispered back.**

 **He gave me a brilliant smile at that. He then grabbed his mug of coffee and continued towards his office, but before he could get too far away he called out, "Make sure she looks gorgeous for the press conference, Scare Bear."**

 **She turned and gave me a look that made me laugh. "He heard me call you that during the introductions. I haven't told him the story… yet. Why don't we go to the living room for the fashion show? It has better natural light."**

 **Scarlett nodded then very meekly replied, "Sure, sounds good. Lead the way."**

 **I picked up a pot of her favorite blueberry tea I had brewed and two mugs then moved into the hallway. One of my favorite things about Alex's penthouse was that there were no buildings near his that would allow anyone to see into his suite. That meant that he and I could walk around naked without worrying that a neighbor would see us. He and I may have taken advantage of that the first weekend I spent with him after I moved in, but that's a story for another time.**

 **I had become Scarlett's favorite model when she was at Design School in San Francisco, so it came as no surprise that everything she brought today fit like a glove. The other great thing was that she knew all of the colors that looked best on me. Actually, it was because of her that I had learned what colors accentuated my complexion and the colors in my eyes.**

 **Later that after afternoon, Alex wasted no time coming into the living room when I called him. At first I had my back to him, so he wasn't overly impressed. However, when I turned around he lot out a low wolf whistle at seeing me in a silver vest shirt that hugged my curves and appeared to be made for the sole purpose of showing off my cleavage. The skirt swished as I rocked my hips from side to side. It was a deep, navy blue with silver pin-striping that was sewn to look like tiny stitches like on a baseball and fit so perfectly that it showed off my 'assets'.**

" **Don't get me wrong… because I LOVE that outfit, but isn't it a little too sexy for a press conference?" Alex asked once he had taken in the full picture.**

 **My smile started to fade, so Scarlett sprung into action. She slipped the jacket she was holding over my shoulder and did up the two buttons on the front of it explaining, "That's why the skirt has a matching jacket. And if you don't like the look of the vest…" She turned and pulled a grey/silver colored sleeveless button up blouse off the rack. "We could go with this. But I thought the vest would help Brie to stand out more since she won't be doing much of the talking."**

" **Plus, I'll be standing beside Ginny the whole time, so I have to make sure I don't look like a scrub."**

" **Which will never happen in a 'Scarson' original," my best friend commented as she returned a few articles of clothing onto the rack that were laying on the coffee table.**

 **I chuckled softly saying, "I like 'Scare Bear' better for your clothing line. And this (I motioned down the length of my body) is why I called you." I turned back to Alex and asked, "So? What do you think?"**

 **Alex moved closer to me and answered, "I'm cancelling our reservations for dinner on Monday because I'll want to get you home as soon as possible it you're wearing that."**

 **Scarlett watched me accept a soft kiss from Alex as she proclaimed, "And my work here is done."**


	21. You Are So Beautiful

You Are... So Beautiful:

The next morning, I got and felt much more refreshed than I had expected to feel, so I got changed into my bikini. I covered it with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that I had left at Mike's house. When I looked at the closet in the guest room, I felt like I had been punched in the gut because It was nearly full. I knew that Mike had bought me a lot (and I mean A LOT) of clothes over the last two years, but seeing it all here at once was almost unnerving.

But that was our past and we were going to leave all of that animosity and bullshit in the past where it belonged. Today was a fresh start for us and I felt like we understood each other better now that we had finally had a nice frank discussion about our family dynamics. For me, that meant that he hopefully had a better understanding of my insecurities, just like I felt like I had gotten to know the real Mike Lawson better last night.

As I made my way down the stairs to the kitchen, I called out, "Hey Mike? Do you have any of that awesome orange juice left? I think I need vitamins or something because I had some weird dreams last night."

"Clowns or midgets?"

I stopped just short of being in the kitchen and fell mute at seeing Alex sitting at the kitchen's island. Mike didn't appear to be in the same room, so I turned just my head to check other parts of the house for him.

Alex could immediately tell what I was doing because he said, "I got the last glass, so Mike went out to the garage to get a fresh bottle because he figured you'd want some when you got up. Did you want some of mine in the meantime?"

I walk up to him and drank out of his offered glass. "Thanks, that really hit the spot. I keep meaning to ask him where he gets it because it tastes so damn good."

Alex put the glass down to corral me into the spot between his legs as he nearly whispered out, "I think it's because it's organic."

"That could be it," I breathed out as he leaned in to kiss me.

We kept our kissing as short as we could because we both knew we had to behave while Mike was in his house. But just because we weren't kissing didn't mean that I couldn't stay standing as close to him as possible. He ran his hands over my hair to help to tame the random hairs that always seem to evade being restrained in a ponytail.

I remained in my spot watching him take a mental inventory of me. Every so often he would just look me over and pet my head or face without saying a word. I questioned him about it once because it had made me self-conscious. He had explained that he was just trying to memorize every detail about me so that it would be easier for him to conjure up a mental picture of me when we were apart. Yeah, I don't call him 'Smooth Talker' for nothing.

After a couple minutes of silence, I quietly admitted, "I missed you last night."

"I missed you too."

"Is that why you came over for breakfast today?"

"No," he answered, pulling me in closer to his body. "Mike invited me over for brunch last night when he called to say you wouldn't be coming home."

"He did? But...? He didn't call it brunch, did he?"

Alex laughed replying, "I swear to you that he did. He figured you'd wake up too late for breakfast and too early for lunch."

"He figured or you suggested?"

"It was all on him. He also thought it was high time he met me as your boyfriend and not just his teammate, so here I am."

"Yes, you are, Boyfriend."

I couldn't deny myself anymore, so I closed the distance between us to give him another kiss. This time he seemed less concerned about making out at my brother's house because his left hand moved under my t-shirt to rest on the knot of my bikini top while his right tucked itself under the waistband of my shorts. My hands fisted the back of his t-shirt in anticipation of what I knew Alex was going to do next.

Just as he started to pull at the knot, we heard Mike clear his throat loudly and called out, "Why don't you two get a room?"

"Alright," I replied in a breathy voice. I then took a step back and took Alex's hand in my saying to him, "Let's go upstairs."

Alex didn't move, so my hand fell out of his as I made my way back to the stairs. Mike quickly stepped in front of me to block my pathway and grabbed my arm in his free hand protesting, "Oh no you don't... Not in my house, Young Lady."

My cheeks rouged instantly, causing me to duck my head and turn to retreat to Alex's side. Mike noticed my embarrassment right away, so he didn't let go of my armed and asked in a tone that made it sound like he really didn't want to ask his question of, "Okay… but it was just in your room, right? I don't have to sanitize the whole house or anything, do I?"

I wrenched my arm out of Mike's hold as I mumbled, "Yes, we were just in the guest room." Once I was back at Alex's side I whispered, "Right?"

He wrapped his arm around my waist and confidently answered Mike saying, "We were only in her bedroom. But if you're worried about what we may have touched, she did give me a granola bar and bottle of water as I rushed out the door the next morning. If you want, I could pay you back for that."

"Seriously? Brie, that's all you gave him as a parting gift? Sorry about that Ellis, normally I would do better than that," Mike retorted in a joking tone.

Mike continued into the kitchen to pour a couple more glasses of orange juice for himself and I. By this time, I had my face fully hidden into Alex's shoulder because this was SO NOT the conversation I expected the three of us to be having over a meal.

Alex didn't seem to be bother by it at all because he replied in a light-hearted tone, "Oh, no worries there, Captain. Brie has more than made up for that over-sight."

"Alex," I whined out as I slapped his other shoulder.

He just laughed at my response and squeezed his arm around my waist so that I couldn't leave his embrace. Mike seemed to be completely oblivious to our back and forth because he continued working on cooking our food and simply said, "That's good to hear."

My head shot off of Alex's shoulder so I could stare at my brother's back and cry out an indignant, "Mike!"

He turned with a plate in each hand and simply just shrugged. As he placed them on the island in front of Alex and the empty seat to his left. Once his hands were empty, Mike gave me wide eyes and innocently asked, "What'd I say?"

I could feel Alex's body shaking from silent laughter at that, so I figured I had lost this argument. Neither of them seemed to be bothered by the exchange, so I tried to let it go too. If I kept protesting, then they would just use it as fodder to tease me more than what I had endured already. Plus, I'm sure that something else would come up over brunch that would get them both picking on me again, which meant that it was in my best interests to pick my battles, especially now that it appeared that I was now outnumbered during said 'fights'.

With that thought in the forefront of my mind, I extracted myself from Alex's arms and sat down without saying another word. Alex watched me closely out the corner of his eye as I slowly started to eat my food. He grew more and more concerned the longer that I remained silent, prompting him to reach over and place his hand on my thigh. Since I really wasn't angry with either of them, just slightly annoyed how quickly and easily they ganged up on me, I placed my right hand over his and laced our fingers together.

Mike didn't witness our silent exchanged because he was focused on plating his own meal and pouring coffee for each of us. But he did notice that something might be off with me when he sat down at the island opposite from the two of us. He looked us both over for a second then asked, "Everything alright?"

Alex nodded answering, "Yeah, the food is great. Who knew you could cook?"

Mike smirked, but it quickly disappeared as he refocused his attention on me to quietly ask, "Brie?"

I was pushing my scrambled eggs through the ketchup on my plate, making it look like I was m tiny organisms and smearing their blood around with eggs. I kept my eyes on the hot sauce I was trying to mix into the ketchup with my forked eggs as I answered, "Actually, there's something I wanted to run by you… both of you… but I'm not really sure where to start."

"Okay. Well, then just take your time," Mike answered in a confused tone.

Alex leaned over so his lips were touching the shell of my ear as he whispered, "Is it about Ginny?"

I simply nodded as my reply. He smiled and looked over at Mike to explain for me, "Brie got an interesting proposal last night… WORK PROPOSAL! Not… I mean, I didn't… Anyways, I think she'll be a perfect fit for it, but Brie's being Brie and has convinced herself that she isn't good enough for it. Which is absolute insanity."

"Alex!" I called out as my head whipped around to allow me to glare at him.

He smoothed the frown lines on my forehead with his fingers of his left hand as he replied, 'Don't get mad at me for telling Mike the truth."

That made my frown deep and I opened my mouth to protest or give him a piece of my mind, but what came out was, "Fine, you're right. Whatever." I was still trying to gather my thoughts to explain what Alex had said to my brother, so I slowly finished my orange juice to help me stall for time. "So… before the game yesterday…" I finally started my narrative. "Ginny and Amelia had a pretty nasty argument and… well… Amelia quit. That's why none of us could find her at the ball park after Ginny got hurt."

Mike froze mid-bite and stared at me in awed surprise. I leaned over and pushed his chin up to close his mouth saying, "I know, right? But that's only the half of it. Before that fight, she had an equally heinous one with her brother as well and he's skipped town. So, now I'm thinking we need to designate someone to argue with Ginny before all of her starts so that she can pitch another no-hitter."

"And she wants that person to be you?" Mike asked in a tone that sounded to genuine or confused for it to be a joke.

I glared at him, but it didn't hold any heat at all. "No, she didn't. But I think I should volunteer YOU for the roll."

Alex snorted out a laugh and nearly choked on his orange juice. I reached over to pat him on the back while Mike tried to give us both a wounded look. He couldn't quite pull it off, so he opted to give us a cocky smirk instead as he retorted, "Nah, that wouldn't work, Lil Sis. My Rookie LOVES me."

"You wish!" I countered with a laugh. That got Mike laughing and helped to ease the tension that was wanting to build in the room. 'But back to reality. Before I left the hospital last night, Ginny asked… Well… she thought it might work if… if… I was her agent."

"She did?" I must have given him a truly chagrinned and hurt look, I know that's how I felt at hearing his pure and utter surprise, because Mike very hastily added, "I didn't mean it like that! I was just thrown off because I thought you were heading back to school and you aren't actually working at an agency… in THAT compacity… well not officially, I know you're interning with… but that isn't the same thing. Not that you have to work at an agency or whatever, but it's just that…"

"Mike," I interrupted over the rest of his rambled words and thankfully he stopped trying to defend himself. "I say this with the utmost, sisterly love… If you would just shut your cake hole, I could explain everything to you."

He shoveled in a large forkful of sautéed spinach and made a show of eating it with a meticulous slowness. I chuckled at his antics, while Alex opted to remain silent. It was kind of disheartening that things had been so weird between Mike and I that Alex really didn't know what to do or say when he was hanging out with both of us. I was really hoping that issue would be resolved before we left Mike's house today.

"Alex had the same questions last night too… I woke up in the middle of the night and called him to let him know where I was so that he wouldn't worry about me. By the way, thanks for calling him after you carried me to bed." Mike smile and just nodded in understanding at that. Alex's eyes lit up with new questions, so I turned to him to say, "I'll explain later. Now back to the topic at hand. I haven't said 'yes' yet, mostly because there's a few things I need to look into before I do. Number one, I'm not even sure that Ginny CAN sing with anyone else right now. Once she's out of the hospital, she's going to email me a copy of her contract with Amelia so I can look it over. Number two, I want to talk to Mr. Cecil to check if he or someone else at CLM can take care of the day to day tasks with her while I'm at school. Oh… side bar? Davis has offered me a job already. We'll be signing paperwork later this week to confirm it, so someone else at the firm could feasibly take care of her in my place before I officially start my employment there."

"Baby, that's awesome!" Alex praised as her turned to pull me into a tight hug.

While I was in his arms, I quietly said to him, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't want to say anything to anyone until the contract was signed."

"Coming from you, I get that. But, it's still fucking awesome news."

"Congrats, Brie. I knew Davis had good taste," Mike stated warmly as I settled back into my seat.

"Thanks… both of you, seriously, thank you. So… what do you think about it Mike?"

"You being Ginny Baker's agent?" He clarified with a tone that gave nothing away in regard to his thoughts or feelings. I bit my lip in nervous anticipation and nodded. "Well, I'm sure Davis will be expecting you to work on building a client base independent of leads he gives you, so… I'm sure he'll be thrilled you've started working on that already. Obviously, it would probably be more impressive if your first client was a future Hall of Fame catcher…"

"Mike!" I cut in. "I can't represent you. It'd be conflict of interest because you're a blood relation. Plus, it would be bad if I had to get you traded away from the Padres so I could make sure that I don't get put in jail for murdering my first client."

"Plus, it would probably look bad if every time we're seen together that everyone would be able to see how much you've been lusting after me." He paused to look over at Alex to say in an eerily sincere tone, "Sorry you had to hear about that part of your girlfriend this way."

Alex shrugged and nonchalantly replied, "Brie and I have already had more than one in-depth conversation about her feelings for you."

This time it was my turn to snort out a laugh and choke on my drink. Just as I had done for him, Alex reached over to pat me on the back a couple of times. While I returned to slowly eating my cooling food once I had stopped coughing, Alex kept his left arm draped over my shoulders while he used his right hand to continue eating his brunch, but neither of us made a move to elaborate on Alex's last comment.

Mike had a look that was a mixture of shock and chagrin as he asked, "You have?"

I rolled my eyes dramatically as I replied, "He already knew everything I told you last night about my youth and that the only person I'm IN LOVE with on the Padres' roster is Alex Ellis and NOT a delusional, soon to be retired catcher."

"Oh, you love me, Brie. You just can't admit it." Mike smirked and laughed at the annoyed look on my face. "But back on topic. I think Ginny would consider herself lucky if you decided to take her on. You understand the game; not just on the field, but the office politics and you get how all of that affects us as players… people too. Plus, you more than understand how hard we have to work to keep a proper balance between our time at home, on the field and doing public appearances. And for you to have Ginny Baker as your first client? I'm sure you'll have athletes and movie stars clamoring to have you represent them too."

"Holy shit," I breathed out.

"What?" Mike asked with a mild amount of concern in his tone.

"I'm pretty sure you just complimented me there. Are you feeling okay? Should I call a doctor? Or the team trainer?"

Mike looked completely unimpressed as he replied, "You're too funny. Are you sure you aren't a professional comedian?"

I laughed then more sincerely said, "Sorry, I'm still trying to get used to this whole you and me getting along again. Alright, sarcasm officially turned off… for now. So, from what you just said, you really think that I can… should do it?"

"You don't?" Alex barked out an involuntary laugh causing Mike to almost angrily ask, "You find that funny, Ellis?"

I held up my hands to keep both Alex and Mike quiet as I answered, "Yes, he does. But that's only because he gave me the exact same answer when I asked him that."

"Oh. I guess you are as smart as Brie says you are."

Alex smiled saying, "Thanks. And Brie, I second everything my Captain said. You'll be great, Baby."

I blushed at their compliments then said, "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I have to talk to Mr. Not Quite My Boss Yet before I can finalize anything."

Mike reached over to squeeze my forearm. "Those are just the details. There will be lots of those to work out, but first you have to make a decision. Is this what you want to do?"

I took in a deep breath and gave myself a moment to really think about what he had just said. A smile spread across my face as I heard myself say, "I can't say this is how I expected my career to start, but then again…" I leaned over and put my head on Alex's shoulder. "I also didn't expect to be living with my boyfriend this summer either. I guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself and screw it up by over-thinking problems that don't yet exist."

Alex hugged me into his body, quietly proclaiming, "Hear, hear."

Mike smiled and offered, "You can have the signing party here if you'd like to."

I sat up straight and tried not to look overwhelmed as I replied, "Seriously… Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mike. First, I have to get all of my ducks in a row so that I CAN sign Ginny."

Mike opened his mouth to offer a few more words of wisdom, but he got cut off by AC/DC's 'Back in Black' play. I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my shorts and laughed when I the call display.

"And speak of the devil." Into the phone I said, "Hey Gin, what's up? Okay, sure… Yeah, I'll swing by your place and then I'll get there as soon as I can… Absolutely. Okay… See you soon."

After I disconnected, I turned to the two men in the room and announced, "Well, I guess work starts today. I have to get home and pick up my car."

Both Alex and Mike raised an eyebrow and did a deliberate once over the length of my body. My eyes travelled down my torso and my cheeks immediately felt hot. "Right, I should probably change and not look like Robert De Niro in 'The Fan' when I go to pick her up."

Alex wiped his mouth on his napkin and pushed back from the island saying, 'Sorry we had to cut this short, Captain."

Mike tried to shrug it off. "Duty calls. There'll be other times."

I walked around the island to give Mike a hug. "You guys have a rare day off at home coming up. Maybe we could do lunch or dinner and… umm… I could maybe bring a bag and pack up the rest of my clothes."

Mike turned in his seat so that he could return my fierce hug and replied, "Nothing would make me happier."


End file.
